A Christmas Story
by Esquinzo
Summary: The NCIS Christmas Ball, a sex-scandal surrounding the new redheaded director and her lead agent, and a trip to Stillwater.
1. Christmas Ball

A/N: I hope you all will have a merry Christmas (hopefully with more snow than I'll get :D)

A Christmas Story (not inspired by Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, it just starts a few days before Christmas Eve)

Prologue: The annual NCIS Christmas ball

* * *

_December 20th, 2005_

Standing in front of her bedroom mirror, she turned her head to look at her vanity table where she'd laid out her mother's earrings and the unobtrusive yet stunningly beautiful collier he'd bought her for Christmas a long time ago. Turning to her wardrobe again she contemplated if she should go with the long red evening gown or the cream colored short dress. Deciding to let her hair down just for once Jenny took the second, considerably more risky one. If she had to go there and spend her evening feigning amusement, she could at least try to enjoy it a bit by giving both, SecNav and Jethro, a minor heart attack; for different reasons though.

Pulling on the dress she wondered what he would wear if he was coming, something she wasn't all too sure off. She let her hair fall down her back in soft, loose curls, and applied light make-up, letting her eyes stand out. She grabbed a small purse, checked its contains and added the switch blade she always carried with her, then she put an emerald green stola around her shoulders and descended the stairs, suddenly looking forward to the evening knowing she would make jaws drop.

Maybe DiNozzo would even get a headslap or two.

* * *

It was December 20th, the holiday season was coming nearer and he didn't like it one bit. He couldn't drown his sorrows in alcohol anymore, since Jenny came back he avoided passing out drunk under his boat, knowing she would pick up on it the morning after when he came to work and demand answers.

He picked up a sander from his work bench and touched the frame of his unfinished boat almost caressingly, trying to relax as much as possibly. He knew he had to deal with the memories sooner or later, there was no way he could just lock them away at Christmas like he did most time of the year, not when everything around him reminded him of Kelly looking forward to Christmas in the middle of the summer or Shannon decorating the house to make it perfect. Sighing Gibbs began to sand rhythmically, completely oblivious to his surroundings till suddenly he heard feet stomping away on the floor above him.

"Gibbs!" Abby squealed, scampering down the stairs.

"Abby." Gibbs grumbled in acknowledgement.

"You coming? We have to go or we'll be late." She said already turning around, obviously in too much of a hurry to even bounce on her feet.

"Where are we going Abbs?" He asked, honestly not knowing what she was talking about.

Abby turned around, her eyes wide, her expression dumbfounded. "You don't know?_ You don't know?_ How can you not know Gibbs? The new director decided to revive the annual NCIS Christmas ball. Isn't that fantastic? It's my first, there hasn't been one since 1998."

He looked at her, yeah, he remembered that last ball. He'd been there with just that redheaded director who had now initiated the revival. They'd danced the whole evening, not caring about what the other agents had been thinking, they had been due to fly out mere days later and the others were most likely way to wasted to even remember their own name. Afterwards they'd gone back to her Georgetown mansion where he'd given her the soft brown leather coat she'd loved so much, the one she'd left with the Dear John on the plane.

"Gibbs? You okay?"

"I won't come Abby." Gibbs said, turning back to his boat as he picked his sander up again.

"You can't do that. Please. Gibbs." She said, her green eyes big and pleading. "You have to go. Do it for me." Abby whined in a high-pitched voice. "Do it for her. She put so much of an effort into this, you cannot just not go!"

"Abby,..." He tried again, but she cut him off before he could even say anything.

"Please. You don't want her to be touched by all the politicians with wandering hands without being able to do something about it, do you?" She asked, a cheeky grin on her face.

"Abbs" He said annoyed.

"Gi-ibbs. Just put on something nice, a dress shirt and maybe jeans, that can't be too hard, can it now?"

He hit his boat with his fist, swearing lowly as his hand impacted painfully with the hard wood of the frame. "Okay, but I can go half an hour after we arrive."

He didn't get a verbal answer instead Abby ran over to him on her black platform boots and hugged him so tight he thought his spine would break. "Now go upstairs and dress nicely. We wouldn't want you to go completely unnoticed by the sexy redhead up in the corner office." She said knowing she surely would have a severe concussion by now if she wasn't his favourite.

Instead Gibbs shot her a stern look at the mention of 'the sexy redhead' but climbed up the stairs nevertheless. Twenty minutes later he came down again, freshly showered and clad in black pants and a light blue dress shirt complimenting his eyes.

Abby grinned and patted his head like a dog. "You look handsome Gibbs, very dashing." She said opening the front door. "Hurry up Gibbs, the others are waiting!"

"The others?"

"Well Tony, Ziva, and McGee. They have been waiting outside for the past forty-five minutes." Gibbs sighed, knowing he'd do better accepting his fate. Letting Abby push him out on his front porch, he thought wistfully about the boat in his basement. He pulled his coat around his shoulders, making his way over to the car containing his team.

Behind him the front door slammed into its lock. There went his chance of a quite, peaceful evening.

* * *

Jenny had her hands neatly folded in her lap, willing them to stop shaking to conceal her nervousness. It was her first Christmas ball, in fact the first big event she hosted as the director of NCIS, and only the second public festivity she attended. The only other one had been the Marine Corps Birthday Ball she'd gone to with Ducky by her side. This time she was without a date, she didn't have a partner and the only person she would even consider asking to come with her happened to be her lead agent, and that was a combination she was sure her bosses wouldn't approve of.

Stanley pulled up in front of the Navy Yard and jumped out of the car to open the door for her. Jenny smiled slightly at him, her silent thanks, knowing everything more wouldn't be appropriate with the press all over the place. She smiled nicely at the cameras, even waved a little bit, before she entered the building. This wasn't the least bit fun.

When she'd thought about balls as a little girl, she'd thought of beautiful evening gowns, dancing couples, and maybe even candles all over the place. Her mind never crossed all the stress that was linked to a social event of this extent.

Jenny took the elevator, glad it was empty and she could have at least a little time just to herself before the doors would open again at the bullpen floor. SecNav had insisted on the party taking place there, he hadn't even considered the problems this caused. They had had to hire a moving company to rearrange the desks and her agents hadn't been able to work there for the last three days, something a particular Special Agent was particular annoyed about.

She sighed, and hit the emergency switch, hiding away from the public and the media she was sure she would have to face only a few moments later. She straightened her dress, put a few strands of hair back into their original places and breathed slowly in and out, counting to ten in every language she knew till she couldn't postpone the inevitable any longer.

The redhead hit the switch again, letting the elevator jolt back to life, and stood bolt upright in the middle of the square metal box.

The door opened and she stepped out, a smile plastered on her face.

* * *

Jenny stood in a corner with the Senators Winters, Smith and Johnson and SecNav, the formers' gazes glued to her chest, the latter talking animatedly about the next budgets reviews while her eyes strayed away from his face every so often and over to the elevators. Just as she was about to swallow a sip of her champagne the doors opened and out stepped Abby and Team Gibbs, and she choked; rather violently at that; the man himself. She looked him up and down, her gaze going from his eyes to his shirt and back to his eyes again, a small smile slowly forming on her features.

He did indeed look handsome. Hopefully she wasn't drooling too obviously by now.

"Don't you think so Jennifer?"

"Absolutely. That's just what I wanted to say." She nodded and smiled, hoping it would work in her favour.

"Well then, it's good we've talked about it. I call you on Monday to discuss details." SecNav said as he turned around, leaving her alone with three elderly men eyeing her like a piece of meat.

"So do you fancy a dance director?" Winters asked offering his hand - with a golden wedding band on the ring finger - to her. She sighed, she couldn't really say no to that, especially with the next fund raising not being far away. She cast a last glance at Jethro who was being engaged in a conversation by Ducky, before she took the Senator up on his offer.

"Sure." Jenny nodded and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor, already dreading his married hands.

* * *

"Dear Jennifer seems to be enjoying herself, don't you think Jethro? It's been a long time since she had the opportunity to let her hair down, she really works to hard."

Jethro looked over to her, her face showing more irritation than amusement of any kind, she was way too busy to keep a certain Senator's hand from certain places. He took another sip of his Bourbon and nodded at Ducky, a wry amusement now in _his_ eyes as he added dryly "She's surely having the night of her life."

Ducky gave him a scolding look before he himself went back to nursing his drink of choice. "Maybe you should be a gentleman for once and come to her rescue."

Gibbs cleared his throat, his expression stern as he turned to Ducky only to see the older man laughing at him. "Don't look at me like that Jethro, we both know she isn't a damsel in distress _you _have to save."

"Damn right, she can look after herself, she's the _di-rec-tor_ now." He replied with only a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"And that's just why rescuing her will be _my _job then." Ducky answered good-naturally, he knew his friends still didn't know how he should act about their still unresolved issues.

He watched Ducky taking the last sip of his scotch and straightening his bow tie before he brushed a few wrinkles out of his jacket. The elderly M.E. placed his tumbler on the bar behind him and took off in the direction of the dance floor as-

"Ducky?"

"Yes Jethro?"

"Maybe I'll save her anyways."

* * *

She wouldn't ever know how she ended up dancing in his arms, but she was more than happy with this latest developement.

Fact was when he'd come to them and told Winters rather curtly that _he _would take over now, she'd been ready to kiss him in thanks. They'd danced to a couple of songs, ignoring the looks they were getting and the journalists who were already speculating about some affair, very much like they'd done seven years before. Then they'd retreated to the bar, sharing a few drinks, first out of two, then out of one tumbler; by that time not even caring about the stares they got anymore. They'd danced again, and when Gibbs suggested to look for 'some place more quiet' Jenny had been happy to follow.

They stood in front of the elevator, his hands at her waist, waiting for its arrival, as she looked up and saw the mistletoe, hanging almost mockingly innocently about her heads. He looked up to, and suddenly he gripped her hips a little more tightly, maybe even a bit possessively, as he bent down, or she leaned up, and out of the blue they were kissing as if there wasn't a tomorrow.

Jethro pressed her against the wall, wrapping her legs around his waist as his hands pushed the hem of the white dress a little further up, his mouth trailing hot kisses down her carotid artery to the juncture of her neck. She let her head hit the wall as she grabbed his hair, pulling his head up to meet her lips again in a bruising kiss.

The elevator _binged_ beside them, but neither of them found it in them to end the kiss or even care about it.

Her trembling fingers found the collar of his navy blue dress shirt, fumblingly undoing the buttons. His mouth latched onto the sensitive spot on her neck, biting down lightly before he licked it soothingly.

His hands went to her back, searching for the zipper of her dress, having completely forgotten where they were till the clicking of a camera behind him made him stop mid-motion.

Gibbs turned his head as the journalist took another photo, before he became aware of their dishevelled appearance; Jenny having buried her face in the crook of his neck, the skirt of her dress almost hitched up around her waist, her normally ivory skin flushed pink, the first few buttons of his shirt undone.

The reporter started yelling, other journalists were coming; agents, his team, too; but he didn't hear anything, everything was numb as he hit the button for the elevator violently and stumbled, still carrying Jenny, into the metal box as soon as the doors opened.

He pressed the button for the parking garage, for the probably first time not hitting the emergency switch. Jenny stood trembling into his arms, suddenly sobering up somewhat.

"Damnit Jethro." She swore lowly, her small hand curling into a fist. "That's the end. It was all for nothing now." Tears welled up in her eyes, she wiped them away furiously.

"Jen-," He broke up. "Jen- don't lose it now, okay. Hold on, just for a little while, just till we're out of here, okay? You hear me Jen?"

She nodded, it was almost not noticable, but the doors opened, and they didn't have time anymore.

"Jen!" He yelled. "We're taking my car! C'mon!"

She went to the passenger side without needing to be told to, she knew he drove faster than she, and by the time she'd closed the door and put on her seat belt, he had already sped off.

* * *

"Where the hell are you driving to Jethro?"

"To my house. Or do you have a besser idea Jen? They will be camping in front of your house by now, hoping to get their own piece of the sex scandal surrounding the new director of NCIS." He hit the steering wheel in frustration.

"And you think they won't be at your house? At the very latest tomorrow morning they will be at your's too and then they will find not only me, but the man I was making out with too!" She yelled back.

His foot hit the brake, and the car came to a violent stop in the middle of the road.

"So what do you suggest Jen?"

"I don't know just-" She buried her head in her hands, her fingers combing through her crimson hair. "We could; we could go to that hotel, it's expensive, but the staff are discreet, they woudn't talk to the press, they know me, I've crashed there a few times."

He nodded, slowly at first, still thinking, but then decided he didn't have a better idea so it was all they could do for now. "Give me the directions Jen. And pray they won't find us." He added, almost as an afterthought.

Jenny looked at him, telling him to take the next street at the right before she began to giggle almost hysterically. "That's hilarious. You don't really think God would help us now after we had almost extramarital sex against a wall at the Navy Yard do you?"

Gibbs watched her for a few moments, glad she'd found something funny about the situation as the tension had begun to slowly get on his nerves. "You could at least try." He said wryly while she was still chuckling lowly. "You catholic Jen?"

She nodded. "My father had me baptized, my mother wasn't that religious, so it was always Noemi who took me to church, even before my mother died. But I haven't gone in ages. You?"

"Same here, although it was my mum who was religious, not my dad."

They drove in a comfortable silence except for Jenny's commands every now and then for the next few minutes, each of them nursing their own train of thoughts.

"The street on your right again. The hotel is at the left."

"That's the goddamn Ritz Jen! Couldn't you have thought of anything a bit more unconspicious?" Gibbs almost yelled, the frustration evident in his voice.

"Just give a tip to everyone we see and we will be fine." Jenny yelled right back. "Jesus Jethro, we don't have the time for yet another shouting match. For all we know the journalists are just a block away from us."

"Okay, okay, it's just..."

"I know. Listen to me Jethro, it's okay. I don't know what I will do in the morning, when no doubt there will be a photo of us in the Post, on ZNN, and probably everywhere else, but right now it's okay. Maybe we are lucky just for once and they won't find out who you are."

He nodded and pulled her small frame to him, hugging her tightly over the middle console of the blue government sedan.

"We use our undercover IDs?" He asked lowly, still having her craddled into his arms.

She shrugged. "They know me anyways, but let's just go for it. Even if it confuses just one other guest who would have tipped of the press otherwise it'll be worth it."

"Then let's go Ms McCallen." Gibbs said as he got out of the car. He opened Jenny's door for her and took her arm, walking up the stairs to the hotel. He tossed his keys to one of the men holding the door open for them. "Just park it somewhere else", he ordered giving the man a twenty-dollar bill.

Jenny led him to the reception area, unconciously gripping Gibbs' hand to calm herself down as she became aware of the curious stares of various guests in the lobby.

The receptionist, a young woman with blonde her and the whitest teeth Gibbs had ever seen, was already coming towards them.

"Ms Shepard. How nice to see you again. What can I do for you?"

"I'm sorry but my name is McCallen." Jenny replied without batting an eyelid. The receptionist just nodded quirking an eyebrow.

"Of course, I must have mistaken you for somebody else. We only have one room left for the night, it's a Junior Suite on the 10th floor."

"We'll take it." Gibbs said gruffly, grabbing the keys and making his way over to the elevators.

"Excuse me, I'd like to pay now if it's possible?" Jenny asked, having pulled her credit card out of her purse.

"Of course, that isn't a problem at all. Here you go." The blonde woman answered pushing the receipt over to her. "Have a nice stay, breakfast is at our restaurant from six thirty to ten thirty tomorrow morning..." She trailed off as Jenny had already turned around and went towards Gibbs.

Jenny hopped in the elevator just as the doors where about to close. "Gee, thanks Jethro." She uttered, shooting him a nasty glare. He didn't take any notice of it, instead he looked around the small box they were riding up in. It was paneled with drak wood, probably mahagony he thought, very different from the plain metal box back at the Navy Yard.

"There's not even an emergency switch" he grumbled, glancing around disapprovingly a last time as the doors opened again at their floor.

"I bet there isn't any guest who need an office like yours." His companion whispered, her mouth right next to his ear, sending a small shiver down his spine as she gave him a flirtatious smile. She stepped out of the elevator and went down the hallway, he following suite, his hand falling to the small of her back automactically, not that she minded. To the contrary, she seemed to enjoy it as she leaned into his touch.

"That's our room." Gibbs pointed out a door to their right. Jenny looked down at their key card. N° 10-27. She nodded. "That's it." She confirmed, opening the door.

The redhead went straight to the living room area, tossing her coat on the small table in the middle of the room while Gibbs entered the bedroom.

"Jen?" He called. "We have a minor problem."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"It's a queen-size bed."

"So?"

"It's _one_ queen-size bed."

* * *

Gibbs laid on _their_ bed as she came out of the bedroom, just in his boxers, obviously having no qualms about stripping almost naked when his ex-lover would sleep next to him.

Jenny on the other hand had had a few problems with that decision. They didn't have that kind of a relationship anymore, hadn't had in a long time and although her lips still burnt from his kisses and she was sure their relationship would have changed that night if they hadn't been interrupted, she didn't want to go out there nearly naked. But since she didn't have any PJs with her and sleeping clad in her white dress wasn't an option, she'd reluctantly entered the room in just her bra and a pair of panties; a slightly risqué matching set of cream colored lace that showed more than it covered.

He'd offered her to take the couch, but she hadn't thought it'd be necessary till she became aware of her slight predicament.

She enjoyed the way his eyes raked over her body although it made her blush, but didn't miss the opportunity to eye him up either. Althought there were a few more lines in his face and his hair was now more silver than brunette, his body did almost look like it had six years ago, except for a few more scars maybe.

"Like what you see?" He used her words from just mere weeks prior, a big grin on his face at tossing them back to her.

"I could ask you the same thing." She gave back cockily, brushing a few strands of her out of her face as she slipped into bed next to him.

She curled into his side, way too tired to even think about what she was doing, resuming their familar sleep positions from her time as his _partner_. He didn't try to stop her, instead he put his arm around her, letting her bury her head in his chest as his thumb stroked lazy patterns over the skin of her hip.

Jenny put one of her legs in-between his and threw one arm over his waist as her breathing evened out.

He didn't envy her her sleep, it was the calm before the storm for her. Hell would break loose in the morning and they would be at her ass first. Only the rumours about an affair with an employee, maybe even a sex-scandal surrounding the new director of NCIS, the first female head of an armed federal agency, would only confirm all those in their opinions who'd demanded her resignation since the day she'd been appointed.

Gibbs sighed, there wasn't really a positive outcome no matter if they rumours would be proven a lie, it would ruin her reputation.

He bent down and pressed a tender kiss to her temple, willing her to enjoy this last calm night.

"Sweet dreams Jen."

* * *

So here it is. I hope you liked the story so far, please tell me what you think.


	2. A Trip To Stillwater

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and to all those who have put this story on alert so far. As almost always I've forgotten the disclaimer at the beginning of the first chapter so here it is.

**-Disclaimer-: As you surely all know I don't own anything. Many things in the show wouldn't have happened if I did.**

Chapter two: A trip to Stillwater

December 21, 2005

The next morning he woke up to a murder headache and a warm body pressed up against him, the latter a sensation he didn't usually feel first thing in the morning. Jethro grumbled and turned his head a bit, wanting to bury it in one of these soft pillows laying around everywhere (_why the hell was there even a soft pillow in his bed?) _but instead bumped his nose rather violently on a scull with- he opened an eye- lots of curly red hair.

Lots of curly red hair he knew. That was _Jenny_ he was sleeping in a bed with.

He pinched himself, surpressing a small cry as the pain shot up through his arm. So he was definetely awake then and it wasn't one of those dreams of his when they had steaming hot sex on whatever flat surface his mind came up with. He lifted the covers a bit - he wasn't naked and neither was she - although the two scrapes of lace she called underwear didn't left much to his imagination, not that he wouldn't know what she looked like anymore.

He grumbled, turning his head again. "Jen? You awake?" Gibbs brushed a few strands of hair out of her face, letting his fingers trace her jawbone, linger on her chin. She didn't budge. Shaking her shoulder lightly he called her name again.

"Five more minutes." A rather sleepy Jenny muttered cuddling further into his side. "Why are you in my bed anyways Leroy Jethro Gibbs? I thought I inforced a no-off-the-job-rule?"

He chuckled wryly, not offended by her remark. Since she'd come back as director they'd both known that sooner or later they would find themselves overstepping the line, no matter what his or her stupid rules said. But leave it to Jenny to think of something as foolish as that first thing in the morning.

"We aren't at yours Jen." He uttered tracing her shoulderblade with his pointerfinger, toying with the strap of her bra.

"Well those aren't your itchy cotton sheets for sure." She mumbled as she buried her head in her pillow again.

He didn't replied anything, instead he got up and wandered around the hotel room. He found a list titled _breakfast in bed_ and at the bottom of the page the tiny emblem of _the Ritz? What the hell where they doing in the Ritz?_ Suddenly he remembered driving them here again, it had been Jen's idea, and then checking in, using their _aliases from their time in Paris?!_

Gibbs shrugged his shoulders, deciding he would order breakfast for them before he would continue to rack his head figuring out why they were here. He picked up the phone, placed the call and then went to the bathroom taking a shower till room service would arrive and he'd wake Jenny up for good.

When he came out of the bathroom he found Jenny sitting on the bed, her hands shaking as she held an exemplar of this day's Washington Post in them. On the table in front of her were a few plates with all the stuff he'd ordered for breakfast, completely disregarded.

"Jen? What's up?" He asked gruffly as he walked towards her, pouring them both a mug of coffee and handing her one.

She handed him the paper wortlessly, closing her eyes for a moment as she bit down on her lip in what seemed like frustration. "_WE_ made the frontpage Jethro." She told him lowly, brushing a lone tear from her cheek roughly.

He looked down at the paper in his hands, the events of the last night rushing back to him. He and Jen, wrapped around each other in a tight embrace, their mouths locked, her legs around his waist, his hands under her dress. The reporter who caught them.

Gibbs stared at the photo, it seemed to be the first one the journalist had made as he had Jenny still pressed up against the wall. Fortunately his face wasn't visible, but reading the headline his identity had obviously easily been figured out.

_"New director sleeping with lead agent - long term relationship or secret love affair?"_

He tossed the newspaper back at the table and crouched down in front of her, taking her hands into his as some kind of silent comfort. This was bad. This could cost her her job. No matter how good she was, how well she'd dusted NCIS, how often she'd gotten them jurisdiction, they wouldn't see her achievements anymore, they would see her playing favoritism because they thought she was sleeping with her head agent.

Jenny smiled bitterly, clutching his hands in hers. "It's ironic, isn't it? All this stress and we didn't even get to have sex." He watched her biting her lip again, willing herself not to cry as he put his arms around her.

"That's the end Jethro." She murmured quietly, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. "There isn't anything I can do anymore. Just because we drank a little too much."

Jethro just held her tighter, knowing there was nothing he could say or do to make her feel better. Ironically he was glad she didn't blame him for any of this, that she let him console her, let him be near her.

He was glad she didn't resent him.

* * *

Jackson Gibbs scampered down the stairs of his small house in Stillwater, going into the kitchen and putting the coffee maker on. Patting through the room, he put bread and marmelade on the table before he climbed down a second set of stairs that led to his convenient store. He glanced at the clock quickly - only quarter to seven so he had about forty-five minutes before he opened the store - and then opened the door grabbing the newspaper laying on his frontporch and taking it with him to the kitchen again. He poured himself a cup of strong black coffee added neither milk nor any sweetener, before he sad down and took the paper again.

_"New Director of NCIS in a relationship with her lead agent" _he read, chuckling to himself. Call him chauvinistic, but he wasn't a fan of women into such positions. Being a federal agent was way too dangerous in his opinion, never mind actually being the directior of a federal agency and thus even more at risk.

Still grinning he looked at the photo underneath the lurid headline that showed that lady director in a rather comprimising situtation with _his son?_

Jackson shook his head, no that couldn't be true. Even if she was a redhead, and a quite beautiful one at that, Leroy surely wouldn't be stupid enough to screw his boss?

He scanned the text, his mind reeling.

_Last night the new director of NCIS, Jennifer Shepard, has been caught kissing the head of NCIS' Major Case Response Team, Special Agent Leroy J. Gibbs, at the end of the agency's Christmas Ball. Outsiders are suspecting an on-going relationship since Shepard was first assigned to Gibbs' team in 1997. Rumours of a Paris love affair, as well as of a secret love child..._

Jackson put the paper down on the table again. He didn't know if he should be happy for his boy or not, considering the situation he decided to wait with any congratulations or demands to meet an possible grandchild of his though.

He downed his coffee and hurried up to open the store, knowing hell would break loose as soon as Stillwater's inhabitants discovered the article about his son and his boss.

* * *

Tony DiNozzo grinned like a Cheshire cat as he stepped out of the elevator on the floor of the bull pen. Today was the day he'd finally make his first own million.

Looking down at the stack of newspapers under his arm, his smirk became even smugger. He'd seen his boss and his boss's boss yesterday evening, but it'd looked harmless, he'd just been holding her in his arms, but now he had proof. Ultimate proof.

He turned around the corner and saw McGee and Ziva already at their desks, obviously working.

"Morning Ziva, Probie. You've read the newspaper today?" Tony asked, waiting for their reaction expectantly.

"Haven't had time. Gibbs'll kill me if I don't finish these reports today." Ziva muttered, not even looking up from the screen of her computer.

"I believe Gibbs will have other worries than your unfinished reports today." He replied rather cheerily, causing his team mates to finally look at him. He grabbed the first of his newspapers, tossing it at McGee.

"Washington Post - _New director sleeping with lead agent - long term relationship or secret love affair?_" The junior agent read out loud, glancing at DiNozzo who'd already grabbed the next one.

"Very good Probie. Here we have the ... New York Times - _Sleeping on the job: relationship between NCIS director and her agent_" Tony continued, throwing the paper at Ziva. "And, last but not least, USA Today titling _On-going relationship between director and special agent - rumours about secret love child still unconfirmed. _Call Abby, Ducky, and Palmer Probie, today's pay up!"

He flopped into the chair behind his desk, popping up his legs as he waited for the other to arrive, still reading the newspaper articles.

"Tony? What's up?" Abby asked, bouncing up and down in front of him.

He rummaged around his desk drawers, pulling out a small leather bound notebook in whick he noted down the stakes everyone had set over the past months.

"Abby, you've won about tow hundreds bucks, Ducky, you've won fifty, Palmer's lost nearly two hundreds, Ziva forty, Probie-wan-kenobi fabulous three hundred fifty, I've won almost three hundred fifty; and those are just the results of our team-internal bets."

"Anthony, my boy, what are you talking about?" Tony didn't answer, instead he just handed his newspaper to Abby whose eyes became even bigger than usual before she began to jump up and down and squeal at the top of her lungs.

"That's fantastic. Our silver-haired fox and the lady boss. They are sooo cute." By then the other agents in the bullpen had turned around to them, most of them having seen the couple the last evening or read that day's newspapers, but still interested in any typ of gossip.

"I won't pay anything till I have proof Tony." Ziva said standing up and coming to his desk.

"What proof do you need _Zee-vah_? There are three snap shots showing them practically having sex against the wall next to the elevator!"

"Ew, Tony, stop that, that's gross. I don't want to think of _el jefe _as the one christening the bull pen!" Abby exclaimed. "So what do you suggest Ziva?"

"I think we should call Jenny or Gibbs and ask them."

"If you have a death wish Zee, you can kill youself with a paperclip. You don't have to sacrifice all of us by involving the boss and the boss's boss." Tony said.

"Just call Gibbs and ask when he comes in today, maybe he will say something that will give them away." Ziva uttered picking up his mobile and shoving it to him.

"_Fine_" Tony muttered as he dialed, then he put his mobile on speakerphone laying it on his desk in front of him.

_"Gibbs?"_

* * *

Jenny had just turned off the shower as his mobile began to ring.

"Jethro?" She called, putting toothpast on her toothbrush.

"Going." He called back, then she heard him answering the phone. "Gibbs?" She couldn't hear who was on the other end of the line, but obviously it wasn't a journalist as he hadn't hung up yet. Gathering their clothes she looked around the room, checking if they had everything they needed.

"Jethro? You've seen my stockings anywhere?"

* * *

The bull pen was deadly silent, everyone was listening intently as the other agents slowly gathered nearer to the MCRT section of the bull pen. Tony gulped before he answered, praying to God he would neither get fired nor killed.

"Er, listen boss, it's already eight o'clock and I was wondering when you were coming in today?"

"Not at all DiNozzo. Anything else?" His boss barked back.

"No, nothing at all. Have a nice..."

_"Jethro? You've seen my stockings anywhere?"_

That couldn't be. That was to good to be true. "Boss? Was that the director in the background?" Tony asked, his hand already going to his wallet.

"DiNozzo I swear to God, if-" Anthony DiNozzo slammed the receiver down on the cradle and stood up, climbing on his desk.

"PAY UP GUYS!"

* * *

"Jesus Jen, that was DiNozzo I was talking to! Now it doesn't matter anymore what the papers say, DiNozzo will start more rumours in the next hour than the journalists did all night long!"

"Well I couldn't possibly know that you were still on the phone, could I know?" Jenny yelled. "What do you think he'll do now anyways? After those photos having been published, there isn't really anything there aren't rumours about! We're lucky I didn't talk about Paris!"

Gibbs brushed his hand down his face, mentally head-slapping himself. "Jen, _Jen_" he murmured gruffly, gripping her arms tightly. He felt her go limp in his arms as he went on. "I didn't mean to snap at you. Guess I'm just nervous too. Let's just go home, grab a few clothes and go somewhere, just lay low for a few days."

She nodded, clutching his arms tightly for a little more time. Then she put her coat on and gave him his before she opened the door and went to the elevator. The whole ride down, as well as the time they waited for their car, neither of them said anything. Not until they sat in the car and were almost at Georgetown, no-one broke the silence.

"Jen?" Gibbs asked, looking at his red-headed passager. "I'll drop you off a block away from your house, then you can go through the backyards to get there, okay?"

"Well there's just one little problem Jethro." She replied wryly. "That won't work. Contrary to your belief, there are actually people who try to protect their properties, especially at rich quarters such as Georgetown, with such things as alarm systems. If I took the backyards, the journalists would catch me sooner than if I went right through them."

"So what do you suggest then?"

"Do you have a set of spare clothes in your car?"

"I'll get along about a week long. I have the duffle bag with clothing in here I use when we catch an out-of-town case."

"Well then, here's the solution: I've always have a suitcase packed for whatever unpredictable things they throw at me. You drop me off at mine, I'll run in and grab it, run out, and we speed off."

"There are a lot of weak spots in your plan Jen."

"You have a better idea Jethro?" She asked staring at him. He looked at her for a few moments, racking his head, but came up with nothing.

"You better hope that'll work though."

* * *

She didn't think there'd ever been a time when she'd felt more pressured than at that moment. As Gibbs pulled up in front of her house, the reporters didn't even look at them, but as she got out of the car and began to push herself through them, they leaped at her like an animal at its prey. When she was half way through the mass, almost panicking, her security detail came to shield her as good as they could and led her into her house.

"Señora! I-"

Jenny didn't spare a glance at Noemi but just raced up the stairs, grabbing her suitcase and exiting the house again, her security detail following her as good as they could. The newsmen in front of her didn't budge, just kept shoving their mircrophones into her face as she attempted to push herself through them. She didn't say anything, just gripped her suitcase more tightly as suddenly she felt a hand grabbing hers, pulling her through the crowd. She stopped, trying to wrench her hand out of the person's grasp, ready to yell for help as she heard the person call her name.

"Jen come on, we don't have time to lose!" Jethro shouted, causing them to focus on him, letting her a little space to thread her way through their bodies. As soon as there weren't any reporters in front of her anymore, she just ran towards the car, tossing her suitcase on the backseat. Jethro was already about to speed off as she closed the door.

"Where are we going Jethro?" Jenny asked, still breathless, the cameras flashing behind them.

"I don't know, just away from here."

"We could go back to the hotel-"

"They are following us Jen, we have to get rid of them first, we won't accomplish that as long as we stay in DC." He replied, driving like a madman.

He just sped away, all she could do was gripping a handle near her head. She became dizzy after a while and closed her eyes, the whole time hoping it would be over soon. Normally his driving didn't trouble her, most people actually said she drove nearly as badly as he did, but at that moment, with the left-over of a hangover and no breakfast, it got to her.

He looked over at her, concerned, she hadn't said anything for a while now, as he noticed her pale complexion.

"You okay Jen?" He asked, resting a comforting hand on her thigh.

She nodded, her eyes tightly shut as she answered. "Just a little lightheaded. It'll pass." He nodded, knowing she couldn't see him, but also knowing that he didn't have to say it out loud. She'd understand him. He looked in the rearview mirror, it seemed as if they'd shaken them off. He took the the next turn on the right, following the I-95 in the direction of Pennsylvania.

* * *

She'd drifted off to sleep about thirty minutes after they'd shaken off their pursuers. He hadn't really noticed it at first, he had been too focused on any cars that were behind them too long in his opinion, but after a while the lack of chatter had come to the forefront of his mind. He hadn't woken her up, but hadn't removed his hand from her thigh either.

Now, about two and a half hours later, she slowly came to it again.

"Jethro?" She asked groggily, her voice still laced with sleep. She narrowed her eyes, looking at the clock-

"Almost one pm." He said, neither looking at her nor at the clock.

"How did you...? You know what? Nevermind." Jenny uttered as she leaned back again, her finger lightly tracing the outlines of his hand. He smiled, taking her hand in his as he continued driving and she looked out of the window.

"Where are we going Jethro? I don't have any living relatives left that could take us in for a while and neither do you as far as I know."

"For a matter of fact I do, and I think you'll like him." Gibbs answered gruffly "It's not too long of a drive anymore, just about an hour, so if you're still tired, I suggest you take another nap before we arrive."

Jenny just shook her head, but didn't try to pick a conversation again. This relvative somehow seemed to be a touchy subject of his.

* * *

They left the highway not long after that, taking small roads through a great landscape, every once in a while when they came through one of those small villages or a little town she thought they were finally there but he didn't stop driving once.

She was about to drift off again as her mobile started to ring.

"You wanna take that call Jen?" Gibbs asked from the driver seat.

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" She asked back, looking at the caller ID before she answered the phone. "Good afternoon Mr Secretary."

He looked at her, she seemed composed and somehow, he didn't know how she did it, in control of the situation although this could easily be the call that would end her career.

_"Good afternoon?_ Good _afternoon? You saw the newspapers today?"_ SecNav all but shouted, and Jenny visibly flinched. He tightened his hold on her thigh, offering her strength. _"Where are you Jennifer?"_

She looked out of the window. There wasn't a sign anywhere. "I don't know, somewhere in Pennsylvania I suppose."

_"Is your detail with you? I don't want you to have any contact with the press, they shall deal with them."_

"No, not really sir. There is an agent with me, but he isn't my usual detail." She answered honestly, her hand grabbing Jethro's again. She didn't know what got to her, she just supposed this whole thing strained her and she liked him comforting her. It'd been a long time since he'd last cared for her like that.

_"Please tell me this agent is not Gibbs." _She didn't say anything, so SecNav just sighed. _"Okay. Listen to me Jennifer. Just lay low for a few days, do not talk to the press, under no circumstances, you hear me? We don't want the rumours to spread any further. You still have your job for now, there's not anybody demanding your resignation yet beside our usual _friends_." _

"Okay. I don't think the press will find us in Pennsylvania. But beside that I don't really know for what anybody would want to fire me. There isn't any rule against the director dating one of his or her subordinates." Gibbs looked at her curiously as she mentioned _dating_ but decided to let it be for just now. "Besides we didn't do anything except kissing."

_"Kissing? _Kissing? _Damnit, that doesn't look like just _kissing_. Those photos look as if you were about to rip each other's clothes off as soon as the elevator arrives. Or just forgo the elevator if it doesn't arrive soon enough! Jeez, you are completely wrapped around him Jennifer!"_

"Mr Secretary, sir,..."

_"Just stay put Jennifer. Stay the hell put!"_

"Sir,..."

She looked at her mobile incredulously. The Secretary of the Navy had just hung up on her.

"You okay Jen?" She nodded slowly, looking him straight in the eye for a moment, before he had to watch the road again. "We are here."

Jenny looked out of the window curiously. There was a small wooden sign, welcoming them to Stillwater. A few inhabitants were out on the street as they pulled up in front of a convenient store, eyeing them up and down as they stared at them unashamedly.

"Do you think they recognize us Jethro? Do you think the photos were in the newspapers here too?" She asked, her voice slightly panicked.

He shook his head in the negative. "They stare because we're strangers. That's always been so."

"You've been here before?" Jenny asked, and all of the sudden she realized how little she really new about her partner's past. He just nodded and then almost tragged her into the store.

"Jack?" He called as soon as the door had closed behind them. "Jack? You're here?"

Jenny moved a little closer to him as they heard footsteps coming to them, clutching his hand tightly in hers.

"Hello son." A gruff voice said. She turned her head and stared into piercing blue, oddly familiar eyes. She looked back to Jethro who pushed her into the direction of the elderly man.

He had the same blue eyes.

* * *

A/N: I looked up many things for that chapter because, as I mentioned, I've never actually been to DC or stateside for that matter. Mostly I used wikipedia _(yeah, they do tell me at school that's a bad source too)_ so I hope you won't mind possible mistakes.

Hope you enjoyed reading, please leave a review.


	3. Small Town Relations

A/N: Thank you for all your lovely reviews, it really means a lot, especially for the guest reviews as I couldn't answer personally but I greatly appreciate them.

Chapter three: Small town relations

_"Hello son." A gruff voice said. She turned her head and stared into piercing blue, oddly familiar eyes. She looked back to Jethro who pushed her into the direction of the elderly man._

_He had the same blue eyes._

She stopped just in front of the man, looking at Jethro again. "He's your father isn't he?" The younger Gibbs nodded, his eyes still fixed on his father's face. "Fuck Jethro" she swore lowly, causing him to look at her. "I've known you for what, eight years and I know next to nothing about you! For all I know he's been dead for about I don't know how long!" She said accusingly.

"Well, it's the same here. We never actually got to the talking part of a relationship." He bit back sarcastically, watching her shoulders slumping. He placed a comforting hand on the small of her back, trying to show her it wasn't her burden to bear, at least not all of it. "It's our both fault Jen." She nodded and only then he acknowledged his father again.

"Jack; Dad" he began wearily "that's Jenny Shep..."

"She's that director girlfriend of yours?" Jackson asked coolly, scrutinizing her again. In a way he'd known since they'd entered his store even though the photos in the papers didn't do her justice. He didn't take any notice of the way Jenny shrieked back a little at the tone of his voice or of the stares his son fixed on his head as he placed his arm around her shoulders. "She's the mother of your child? Of my grandchild Leroy? Didn't you think it'd have been more suitable if I'd met her before?"

"Grandchild?" Gibbs asked dumbfounded.

"Don't play dumb on me Leroy, the three of you made the front page. People came by all day and wanted to know about him or her and I couldn't say a damn thing because _you_ never thought about telling me." The older man said angrily. "Because you don't talk to me anymore since _then_."

"Why?" Jenny asked lowly, her voice barely above a whisper and for a moment he feared she wanted to know why he didn't speak to his father anymore. "Why do they say something like that? What is the sense in rumours like that? My reputation is ruined either way, they don't have to add fuel to the fire."

"Jen" he murmured quietly, pulling her into him and holding her tightly.

"We don't even have children." She suddenly stated, just throwing it in the room. He didn't know if she'd said it to him or to his father, but it angered him that she thought she had to justify herself.

"You don't have children?" Jackson repeated incredulously.

"No, we don't, right Jethro?"

"Well if you don't know Jen." He answered sarcastically. Jackson just nodded.

"I suppose all that other stuff is wrong then too?" The older man asked.

"What other stuff?" Gibbs asked gruffly.

"Wait a moment, I will get you the paper." Jackson answered as he made his way up the stairs. "Leroy, you and your lady friend wanna have some coffee?" He called down from the first landing.

"Make 'em black" Jethro called back observing Jenny as she wandered around the store. "See something you like Jen?"

She laughed a bit at the line, her eyes meeting his for the fracture of a moment as she pointed at the fudge. "My father used to buy me some every other week-end." She explained, her green eyes dreamy as if she were far away.

"Kelly liked it too." He recalled, the ghost of a smile on his lips. It was bittersweet.

She seemed startled for a second. "Who's Kelly?"

He gulped. He'd feared something like that would happen, that he would slip up once he was back in Stillwater where he'd met Shannon, where the three of them had spent such happy times, where their ghosts were all over the place.

"She was my..." He broke up as the door to the shop opened and the little bell rang. A man about his age entered, eyeing him and Jenny up and down. _Literally saved by the bell_ he thought.

"Leroy, that's you?" The man asked, a smug grin on his face.

"Ed?" He asked back. He looked him over, the same fleshy, almost swollen features, the same smirk.

"Yeah, that would be me. And that's Ms Director I suppose?" His eyes roamed over her body, trailing along her curves till the came to a rest on her chest no doubt already thinking about sleeping with her.

"What do you want Ed?" Gibbs asked, slowly shifting over to Jenny.

"Actually I wanted to talk to your old man but as you're already here... How have you been Leroy? I've read you're on our side now, not that I can really believe that one."

"If you're just here to gossip Ed, I suggest you leave." He said harshly, giving him an icy glare.

"My my, still as impatient as you used to be. I'll give Debby your greetings." The other man said, winking at Jenny. "When you're tired of him honey, give me a call." With that he let his eyes wander up and down her body once more before he turned on his heel and worked out the door.

"Who was that Jethro?" Jenny asked as walked towards the rear part of the shop.

"No one." She gave him a hard look. He sighed. "He was one of the bullies at school. Nobody to worry about."

"You've been bullied in school?" She asked. It was hard to imagine him as the victim, as the one who needed to be protected. He was always so in control of any situation, always protecting the others.

"I bet you weren't." He replied and she took him changing the topic as what it was. He didn't downright refuse to talk about it, but still she got the reluctance in his tone. She didn't question him any further.

"Wasn't around long enough. 'Til I went to college, we'd move every other few months. My dad was always deployed to somewhere else. We've lived in Europe for a while, that's why I speak French and German fluently. But I've always been more the quiet type, the one who reads books and gets straight A's, not the girly cheerleader that sleeps with the star quarterback." She laughed a little nervously as he looked at her surprised, that was probably more information than she'd offered in all the time they'd been partners.

"What about your parents?" He wanted to know.

"I can't really remember my mother, she died in a car accident when I was almost three, my father died when I was twenty-one. I dropped out of law school and enrolled in FLET-C. You?"

"My mother died when I was eight, I became a Marine after I had graduated." She stared at him, and he was sure she wanted to know how he came to be a NCIS agent, but she didn't ask. It was unusual for them to even talk about their pasts and their families, and he suspected it was all due to them having to stay with his father and the fact they were forced to face his a part of his past together in a way that made them be so open about it. Suddenly he wished it had been different, that they'd had this talk in Paris, not now. Maybe that could have changed things.

Jenny nodded, and there was something in her eyes in that moment that made him believe she'd just thought the same. He took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze, then he led her up the stairs into his father's kitchen.

* * *

The rest of the day had been spent quietly, they'd kept a low profile like SecNav had demanded. They hadn't gone out, mostly sat next to each other on Jack's small couch and watched TV, but hadn't talked much beside explaining their situation to Jackson either.

It was nearly seven when Jackson had closed his store for the day, once the news had been out that they were in Stillwater, people had come by all day again. Now they sat around the table in the kitchen, supper in front of them.

"I wonder if it will be always like that from now on." Jenny said suddenly, quietly.

"What do you mean Jen?" Gibbs asked, questioningly looking at his father who just shrugged his shoulders.

"All the people looking at us, staring at us. When I first became director, that college kid in the coffee shop spoke differently to me, the few childhood friends of mine still living in Georgetown acted differently. And now when we came here it was the same for you, but suddenly they knew me too, they had an opinion about me, they looked at me, watched me, and I could almost see how they thought '_she's a slut_' or '_she slept her way into her position_'. That Ed guy, he didn't even know me, I didn't say a damn thing and yet he thought I wanted to sleep with him, just because he was a guy."

"Ed?" Jackson snorted. "He should watch it. If he sleeps with anyone who isn't his wife again, Debby will kick 'im out and he won't get to see his kids any time soon again."

"I could arrest him for looking at you."

"Please tell me you aren't serious Jethro. You wanna give them another reason to gossip?" Jenny asked but laughed nevertheless. Jethro just shrugged his shoulders.

"Where are you two going to sleep tonight?" Jackson asked changing the topic to a more serious one again.

"Jen can take my room and I'll sleep on the couch." Gibbs answered.

"No way Jethro, that would kill your back. I can take the couch."

"Jen,..."

"Look Jethro, you are not sleeping on that couch. Got it?" She replied using her director tone.

"Must be a bitch working for her when she uses that tone, son." Jackson said, ignoring the glares from both Jenny and Gibbs.

"Well you aren't either Jen. Think we're both sleeping in my room then, bed is large enough for two." She nodded, her silent peace offer.

"Thought you were neither married nor a couple." Jackson chimed in. "Maybe all those rumours come from behavior like that."

Jenny laughed as she and Jethro stood up to grab their luggage. "You need help with the dishes Jack?" She asked.

"Ah no. You two have fun." He declined slyly. "But son, have in mind I don't want that grandchild so badly that you wouldn't have time to put a ring on her finger first."

"Who says I want to marry him. Would hate to become ex-wife #4." Jenny called from the stairs.

"At least it would stop the rumours." The older Gibbs called back. "Sleep well Jenny." He shouted before he turned to his son who still stood in the door to the kitchen. "What about you? Don't want to sleep?"

"I was about to propose to her." Gibbs muttered lowly. "Thought you would want to know. I'm traditional too. She made me happy, still does when she's not hiding behind that director persona of hers. I wanted to make an 'honorable woman' out of her, I didn't like the rumours about us or the others looking at her like she'd slept with everyone and they'd just had to wait for their turn. I wanted it all, marriage, a family, even the dog and the white picket fence. She didn't."

"Son, does she know about _them_?"

Gibbs shook his head. "I slipped right before Ed entered the store today, mentioned Kelly's name. I've never told her, but I was about to."

"Maybe it's time then. Maybe you should tell her now."

* * *

He laid down beside her on his childhood bed, and even though he'd told her it was large enough to fit them both, and it had been in his memory, there wasn't much space in between them.

"Jen?" He asked lowly, not wanting to wake her up if she was already asleep but nevertheless driven to tell her about _them_ now, knowing that maybe tomorrow, in the hard light of the day he wouldn't be able to build up the courage to do it again.

"What is it?" She murmured, her voice laced with sleep as he rolled over, bumping into his body.

"You wanted to know who Kelly was." He began falteringly.

"You know you don't have to tell me." She mumbled soothingly as she touched the pads of her fingers to his cheek. He gripped her hand tightly in his, reassuring himself that she was there, that they would go through this together.

"Yeah, I do."

Jenny nodded and buried her face in his chest. "So then tell me about her."

Jethro gulped. "Kelly is; was my daughter. She died when she was eight. I was fighting in Desert Storm at that time, against the enemies I didn't want her to be afraid of. I wanted her to have a safe life, without any threats. Instead she was killed in the States by enemies I couldn't protect her from."

"It wasn't your fault Jethro. There's nothing you could have done." She said, letting the silence descend on them for a few minutes before she asked her next question. "What about her mother?"

"Shannon died with her." He uttered as he buried his face in her hair, breathing in her scent, letting it calm him done enough to tell her the rest of the story. "She'd witnessed a murder a few weeks before, wanted to testify against him. He was a Mexican drug lord, didn't take it kindly. They were protected by NIS and one day when they were out, the driver of their van was shot, he died immediately. Shannon and Kelly didn't survive the following crash, they died at the scene."

Jenny didn't say anything, she just held him to her. There weren't words when one'd lost all his family.

She turned a bit in his arms, wanting to see his face. She knew it had to have cost him strength, opening up like that. She wished she were able to too. She felt his hands softly stroking her hair, then his thumb brushed the tears from her cheeks she hadn't realized till then she'd shed.

"Living without a family is hard." She whispered, and he nodded, knowing she knew what she was talking about, that she'd lost everything too. Maybe not at once, but at the end of the day, they were both alone. "I wish I had someone left, like you have your father." Jenny murmured lowly.

The words hit him hard, went straight to his heart. _His father had lost his family too._ He'd lost his daughter-in-law, his beloved grandchild, and he had pushed him away.

"He brought a date to their funerals." Jethro said, feeling the need to defend himself although he knew she hadn't accused him of anything.

She nodded. "It was his way of coping." She faltered for a moment as she locked her gaze with his. "After my father died, and they declared him a traitor, said he'd commited suicide, I hooked up with more guys in four weeks than I had ever before. It helps, takes your mind off of things, and when it goes south, you can blame your loss for it. It's superficial, no strings attached, because you don't want any, and people are understanding because _you've just lost somebody_."

Jenny paused a bit, her eyes still locked with his. "And then I wanted revenge, because I didn't believe them. Coudn't believe he'd kill himself when he would leave my by doing it. I still can't accept it. I looked through files, looked for every bit of information I could possibly get a hold of, and sometimes I ask myself if I'm obsessed, and then I'm afraid of the answer."

At last her voice was a mere whisper, so low he was afraid to break the tension her words had left in the confined space of his childhood room, of his childhood bed.

"It doesn't help. You want it, you thirst it for so long, and when you get it, you feel just hollow, numb. You want to feel better, and suddenly you get that it doesn't bring them back. You fall in a hole and you recognize that you've never really grieved, that all what you've done was postponing mourning them."

She didn't know how he knew, wasn't sure if she wanted to know. He spoke with such an experience, with such a security that there wasn't really a doubt in her mind how he'd known, but when she looked up again, into his eyes, she saw the hollowness in his eyes.

"Does it get better?" She asked, almost afraid of his response.

"You make it better."

* * *

The next morning Jenny woke up to his steady heart-beat, her head on his chest, tucked under his chin. She freed herself from the covers, moving slowly and carefully as she got up as to not wake him up.

She closed the door softly behind her, swearing under her breath as it creaked nonetheless, then she made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. It didn't occur to her the she may be under-dressed for the occassion till she heard Jackson lowly humming along to some song on the radio and she became acutely aware of the fact she was just wearing a pair of shorts and a flimsy camisole.

"Jenny." Jackson greeted as he saw her standing in the doorway. "You slept well?"

She nodded and gave him a small smile as she slowly entered the room. "Help yourself to some coffee, I'll go and get the paper." He looked out of the window for a moment, it went out to the backyard where a thin layer of snow was slowly piling on the ground.

"Oh no, I'll go. It's the least I can do." Jenny said, already turning on her heels.

"Jenny, look at you, it's way to cold outside."

"No, it works, I'll just grab the paper and come up here again." She called as he heard her sock-clad feet scampering down the stairs. He took a mug out of the cupboard for her and poured coffee in it while Jenny went through the store towards the door. Suddenly she had an uneasy, dreading feeling in her gut as she unlocked it.

She didn't even get to fully open the door before the reporters waiting outside were already lunging at her, pressing the first row of them impossible near to her, while flash lights flashed, cameras clicked, and mircrophones were shoved in her face. She didn't know if she was screaming, she just grapped the newspaper and darted back inside where she locked the door and crumpled down against it.

* * *

She still lay in front of the door just in socks, shorts, and camisole when Jethro found her almost half an hour later. When Jenny hadn't come up again, Jackson went down to the stoor to look for her. After he'd found her he'd woken up his son, not sure if he should try to talk to her as she seemed apathetic.

"Jen?" Gibbs asked as he crouched down beside her. She sobbed quietly, it was a dry one, as if she didn't have any tears left. "What's up?" He lifted her up on his lap, putting his arms around her as he tried to calm her down.

Jenny clutched his shirt tightly in her hands as she answered. "They are all over the place Jethro. There are reporters everywhere, camera teams to, and I went out there like that."

He mumbled incoherent, soothing words into her hair, as he grabbed the newspaper. He didn't want to look at it, decided to postpone it just a little longer till they were in the warmth again, he had to get her out of the cool store first. He put her on her feet, a steadying arm around her waist as he led her up the stairs. His father positioned to mugs of steaming hot coffee in front of them as they took their seats at the kitchen table. Jethro pulled Jenny near him, letting her rest her head on his shoulder while her eyes slowly lost their reddish color and the tears on her cheeks dried.

"What do they write today?" His father asked from the other side of the room.

"Haven't looked yet." Gibbs replied gruffly as he reached out to grab the offending paper while the other trailed soothingly up and down Jenny's arm. "Doesn't matter really. After today they will definetely rip her apart." He muttered with an air of finality but looked at the front page nevertheless.

_"Lovers kept under covers - affair during assignments to Europe" _

"Hoped we wouldn't make the front page again."

"That's your only worry Jethro? That we've made the front page again? Then you better get used to it because we will again tomorrow, and then SecNav will throw a fit, or maybe he's already about to because he saw on TV how I came out of your father's house with next to nothing on and that's practically screaming relationship!" Angry tears spilled down her cheeks again as she'd ended. She stood up abruptly. "I'm gonna take a shower. Thanks for the coffee Jack." She said shakily, pressing the back of her head against her mouth to keep herself from crying.

Jackson waited till she was out of earshot to adress his son. "Maybe you should go after her?"

"And then do what?" Gibbs asked back, clearly frustrated.

"All that stuff Leroy, it's hard on her. She needs someone to cheer her up."

Sighing Gibbs brushed a tired hand down his face but stood up nevertheless. "See you later Dad. You better hope she won't kill me."

* * *

He found her in the bathroom, bent over the sink, still clad in her sleep clothing.

He cleared his throat before he came up behind her, briefly considering if he should take her into his arms but eventually deciding he'd let her have her space. "Jen?"

"Jethro? What are you doing here?" She asked still facing the mirror as she let her eyes find his.

"We have to talk Jen. We're in this together if you want to or not, it doesn't matter what you think about it because it took both of us to get those pictures as well as it will cost both our reputations." His tone was deadly calm, almost chilling.

"So what is the worst that could possibly happen to your reputation? People will think you've screwed your boss, so? You'll be some kind of hero, _my_ employees will look at you and think _wow, he fucked the director_. But they will look at me and think _what a slut_." She yelled, cried, and suddenly he became aware of just how right she was. This didn't do a number on him besides the reporters stalking him, but it had the potential to ruin her.

"And do you know what the most infaruating thing about all this mess is? I'm not even angry at you! I'm angry at me, angry at all those reporters, and at DiNozzo for his _fucking _bets, but not at you, and I hate it, because this is as much your fault as it is mine and-"

He strode to the room and trapped her between his body and the counter, his body pressed flat against hers. "Don't let them brake you Jen." He whispered in her ear, and his hot breath over her skin was all it took for her. She gripped his t-shirt, fisting her hand in it and pulled him down to her, and then her lips were on his, in a kiss that was as bruising and breath-taking as the one two days prior.

Jethro pulled her hips nearer to his, then he pulled her camisole over her head, leaving her in only her bra while her hands went to his abdomen. She brushed her cool fingers along his mucles, sending shivers all over his body as she pulled her mouth away from his, gasping for air. He trailed wet open mouth kisses along her carotid artery to the juncture of her neck, biting her shoulder lightly. His hands went to her back, fumbling with the clasp of her bra as she pushed him away from her lightly.

He looked at her questioningly, but Jenny just put her arms around his waist, tucking her head under his chin.

"Just hold me for a minute, okay?" She asked in a hushed whisper, almost as though she were afraid of his answer. He nodded, holding her tightly to him.

"We don't have to rush anything Jen. Just because they want a sex-scandal we don't have to give it to them." Gibbs murmured into her hair, pressing a kiss to the crown of her hair.

She nodded, her ear about his heart. "I've missed you Jethro." She whispered softly.

"Me too Jen, I've missed you too."

* * *

_A/N: I hope you liked that chapter, it turned out different than I'd originally planned, but when do things do what you want them to do?_

_Anyways, please leave a review._


	4. The Cottage

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, it's so incredible that so many people enjoy reading this story xD!

I'm sorry I haven't updated sooner, but after New Year's Eve I was way too hung over and my muse way too dead to come up with anything. So I hope you will like this although it's still really short.

**-DISCLAIMER-: I don't own the song "Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt**

* * *

Chapter four: The Cottage

_December 23, 2005_

He opened his eyes at the first rays of sunshine the next morning, what wasn't exactly early considering it was December. Jenny was snuggled into his side, a small frown on her face as though she couldn't decide if she was dreaming a bad or a good dream. She woke up as he was about to slowly rob out of the bed, smiling a bit at his efforts to make as little noise as possible till he turned around and found her awake.

"Could have told me you were awake Jen" he muttered rather grumpily as he glared at her lightly.

"My Jethro, where would be the fun in that?" She asked still smiling as she too got up. "Is that coffee I'm smelling" she mused loftily as he opened the door and patted down the hallway.

"Think so." Gibbs confirmed. "Dad's always up before the crack of dawn, probably will be to his dying day." He shrugged. "You comin' Jen?"

"On my way" she called as she headed to the bathroom. "Just a moment."

He scampered down the stairs, briefly stopping on the first landing to look out of the window - it was still snowing, the reporters were still out there, although he thought that maybe, there were fewer out there than the day before.

"Dad you've already gotten the newspaper or shall I go fetch it?" Gibbs asked as he entered the kitchen.

"I've run out there around six o' clock and was back in again before they could even get a hold of their cameras." Jackson answered as he came out of the storage room, obviously quite pleased with himself.

"Sneaky Jack" Jenny commented grabbing the cup of coffee Gibbs had just poured for himself. They handed it back and forth, sharing their coffee and ignoring Jack's complaisant stares.

"So what do they write?" Jethro asked as he led Jenny to the kitchen table.

"Who?" The older man said, looking slightly confused.

"Never mind." Gibbs answered as he reached for the paper. "I'll just read for myself. Can't possibly be worse than yesterday, can it now?" He looked at the headline, then at the photos. Maybe it was.

_"Serious - Meeting with the parents in comfortable environment"_

"So what do they write? Please tell me they had the decency to not print that photo of me wearing next to nothing." Jenny asked, her tone light. He looked at her, her pose relaxed, a smile securely on her face. He stared a little longer, and the smile didn't quite reach her eyes anymore while her hands were beginning to fidget with the hem of her top.

She bit her lip, not trying to conceal the anxiousness, the nervousness anymore. "Jethro, just tell me what they've written please." She demanded, her voice not more than a harsh whisper. It sounded hoarse even to herself.

He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him as he handed her the paper, offering his own, wordless brand of comfort. She looked at the photos first, comtemplating how much damage a picture of her in just a camisole and shorts in probably every paper in the US would do to her reputation.

It was _bad_.

"They'll have my head for that Jethro." She said quietly. "Maybe I should call SecNav and explain this mess to him before he calls me. Handing in my resignation before I'm forced to do it."

Jenny stood up, tears welling in her eyes as she looked at the photos. She shook her head. "I just don't understand. If I were somebody else, nobody would care."

"That's the price you pay for being on top." Jethro said, his voice colder than he'd intended.

"You think that's the price I pay Jethro?" She cried, the tears spilling down her cheeks. "You think that's the worst?"

He looked at her, his expression blank. That wasn't what he'd wanted to say, he didn't know at all anymore what he'd wanted to say.

"It's bad when something like that happens, when everybody think you are where you are because of your looks, or because you slept your way to the top. It's worse when your team believe that nonsense, when they think you're incapable, when they don't trust you because of the rumours they've heard. The worst was when I came back, and the people who knew me before didn't trust me anymore. I don't mean you in particular Jethro, _I _hurt you first, and maybe in the end leaving you in Paris was the worst, maybe it could have worked out; but the people I considered friends before, people like Balboa or Cassie Yates, they didn't call me Jenny anymore or at least Shepard, suddenly I was _Madame Director_, and.." She rambled, her voice cracking more with each word she said.

He thought back to her first time as director, he had wondered silently back then why they wouldn't call her Jenny anymore, why they didn't laugh with her, or didn't look her in the eyes, why they were so _cold _towards her, as if they didn't know her at all although she tried so hard to get them to trust her again.

And suddenly he recognized what a number that had done on her, that suddenly she had recognized that her flying through the ranks left her with no friends, no matter how much of an effort she had put into it. Even Ducky had been more guarded than usual.

She was still crying as she went on, her eyes fixated on his the whole time. "You, you and Abby, you were the only people who gave me a warm welcome, but the rest, they resented me, first for putting Ziva on your team, and when they came to like her for something else..." She trailed off, her large green eyes still teary and vulnerable.

"Jenny-" He murmured into her hair as he held her close to him, his father still silently sitting on a chair next to them.

"Leaving you in Paris was a mistake Jethro, especially the way I did it, and I still regret it, even if I don't think we would have been able to save what we had back then, but you forgave me. And I am grateful for that Jethro, I really am."

He looked at her, considering her words. He _had _been hurt when she left, but the failure of their relationship was as much his fault as it was hers.

"I know Jen. I may not have left, but I haven't chased you either."

* * *

Jenny called SecNav a little while later, after she had calmed herself down enough to hold her voice steady. They sat on 'their' bed, Jethro's back resting against the headboard, she leaning back against him, as she quickly punched the number into her mobile, her fingers trembling only slightly.

It didn't take the Secretary long to answer the phone, and he dominated the call from the first second on. Gibbs noticed how Jenny tensed up more and more under his hands, how her grip on her mobile became tighter and tighter till her knuckles turned white. Her breathin hitched when ever he rose his voice even further, and at times he was sure it was only her pride that kept her from crying.

_"This isn't tolerable Jennifer. Even if you aren't in a relationship with Agent Gibbs, you can't go out like that if there is just the possibility that there will be journalists. I can't have my director running around like some slut, you hear me?"_

He put his arms around her as SecNav kept shouting, trying to soothe her when she fought to keep the tears at bay.

_"I don't care how you do it, but you and Agent Gibbs will go anywhere secluded where you don't come into any contact with the press. If there aren't any new scandalous pictures of either of you in the papers tomorrow morning we may succeed in preventing you from having to hand in your resignation. I will organize a press conference for tomorrow evening, I will call you with the details."_

"Thank you Sir." She mumbled as the SecNav ended the call, falling back into Gibbs' embrace.

"You have any idea where we could go?" He asked lowly.

Jenny shrugged her shoulders as she narrowed her eyes, focusing her gaze on the wall opposite to them.

"That yours?" She asked, pointing at a football jersey.

"Been a quarterback in high school." Jethro said evenly.

"You were?" She mumbled, surprised.

He laughed a bit at her expression, somewhere between unbelief and utter surprise. "That so hard to belief?"

Jenny shook her head. "No." She muttered a bit self-consciously. "You just don't seem to be that typical jerk, you know when Ed came here and you..."

He didn't let her finish, just shook his head. "Being unpopular does not mean being unsuccessful." She shrugged again, not really sure what she should answer at that. "So you know a place?" Jethro asked again and she had to think a moment before she knew what he meant.

"There's this house in the Hamptons, my father used to take me there when I was a child. I've been there a few times after he died, it hadn't been the same anymore so I stopped spending my holidays there, but it's almost perfect for our purposes. Let me make the call."

He nodded and stood up, dropping a kiss to the crown of her head before he went down the stairs to notify his father.

* * *

"You told your father?" Jenny asked as she came downstairs.

"Uh-huh" He nodded as he pressed her up against the wall of the living room, his hands falling to her hips, slowly pushing the hem of her shirt up her stomach.

"Here?" She asked incredulously as his hands roamed further up her body to her breasts, cupping them gently through the silky fabric of her bra.

Jethro pressed her lips against hers in a heated kiss, nibbling softly on her bottom lip, deepening the kiss as she opened her mouth to moan. Her hands gripped his biceps to hold herself steady as her knees threatened to give away beneath her. She broke the kiss, panting for air as she moaned again, a strangled sound that escaped her throat as he trailed feather light kisses along her jaw line.

"Jethro." She whispered hoarsely.

"Yeah?"

"You don't want to take that upstairs? Your father could come in any minute." Her breathing hitched as his lips met her collar bone, his fingers hurriedly unbuttoning her blouse.

"No" he mumbled against the swell of her breasts as he lifted her up, carrying her to the couch.

She felt as though her brain was temporarily out of function as he trailed kisses down her sternum over her belly button down to the waistband of her pants. The heat in the pit of her stomach was increasing, by then she wasn't able to form a coherent thought anymore.

"Jethro" she mumbled breathlessly.

"Leroy? Where the hell are you?" They heard Jack's voice as footsteps came up the stairs.

"Jethro!" She shrieked panicked, pushing him away from her as he continued to kiss her.

"Leroy? You in here?" The older Gibbs asked coming into the room.

"Jethro!" Jenny yelled again, pushing him in front of her while she clutched her blouse to her chest.

"You have seen that beautiful lady friend of yours son?" He asked, then he began to grin as he saw the red-head behind his son. "You two shouldn't have taken that dig of mine so seriously. I'm still happy even without a second grandchild."

"Dad!" Gibbs laughed when he looked first at his father, then at Jenny who was flashed pink with embarrasement as she redid the buttons of her top.

"Well I couldn't let you two get away without properly seeing you off, now could I."

Jenny laughed, still embarassed. "Guess not. Good-bye then Jack. It was nice to meet you." She smiled as she hugged him. She drew back, making room for Gibbs.

"Take good care of her son." Jackson said as he embraced Gibbs lightly, patting him on the back. "And bring her by again soon."

"Will do dad." Jethro replied, sincerely. "It was good to see you again."

"Same here."

"Guys, I don't wanna interrupt your heartfelt good-bye, but how are we even going to get away from here? The newsmen are camping outside of your store, our car is parked down the street, and they will long since have leaped at us till we arrive there." Jenny chimed in.

"That's why we will take _my other car_." Gibbs grinned smugly.

"Your other car?" Jenny echoed.

"She's his high school sweetheart." Jackson laughed. "A dodge charger, yellow-black, leather seats, sound system, a real treasure. We started to restore her when Leroy was in high school, later on, after he'd graduated and joined the Marines, I finished the job alone."

"You have a muscle car Jethro. Oh, of course you have. Why do I even wonder?" Jenny muttered under her breath.

"You have your stuff with you Jen?" She nodded, still a bit dumbfounded.

"Let's go then." He put one of his arms around her waist, slang his duffelbag over his shoulder and picked her suitcase up with the other. "See you dad, I'll call you." He yelled back, then they went down the stairs and out of the bag door.

* * *

They drove mostly in silence for the next two hours, Jenny had soon drifted off to sleep just after they had sped off. He shot glances over to her sleeping form every now and then, brushing a few strands of hair out of her face or caressing her cheek.

She woke up soon after they'd passed the border to New York and started fidgeting with the radio, stopping on a station that played Christmas Songs. She hummed quietly along, seeming rather contently. She stared over at him, almost burning a hole in his temple with her glare while she was still listening to the radio.

_"Been an awful good girl all year" _Eartha Kitt sang on the radio as Jenny leaned over to him and began to sing the exact same text in her throaty butterscotch voice into his ear. He gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, trying to ignore her while she trailed her mouth along his neck.

"We're in the middle of a highway Jen!"

"I know _santa baby_. We're on Interstate 86. _Think of all the fun I've missed; Think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed; Next year I could be just as good._"

He took a page of her book and covered her mouth with his hand. "If you don't want another scandal you'll better stop that right now." Gibbs husked throatily. She huffed a bit, an adorable pout on her face as she turned around and called their landlady to arrange the final details of their stay.

* * *

They arrived late, the sun had already set, and Jethro was glad that she'd called the landlady to arrange everything right up to the well-stuffed storage room. He took their luggage to their bedroom while Jenny went to the kitchen.

"You better don't think about cooking anything Jen!" Gibbs called from the hallway.

"Jethro!"

"What? Last time you didn't just burn our food but also half of the kitchen." Came his reply and she could practically _hear _his smirk.

"You were distracting me Jethro!" She mumbled as he embraced her from behind. "Just as you are right now."

"Just put two of those pizzas in the oven and we will be fine."

"You light a fire while I prepare supper?" She asked going to the freezer.

"Already about to."

Half an hour later they sat in front of the fireplace, Jenny almost on his lap as they ate their pizzas.

"I'm scared Jethro. Sometimes I feel like the ground falls out from underneath my feet. They are just ripping everything away from me, not just my reputation or my job, just everything and there is nothing I can do to stop them. It's out of my control, and it scares me Jethro. It scares me so much."

Jethro leaned back, till his back hit the floor, letting Jenny rest on top of him.

"We'll beat it, we'll go through it together Jen."

She tucked her head under his chin and tangled her legs up with his. "You don't understand. If they feed me to the wolves, they'll do it to you too. Maybe they'll fire you too, and when they take your job, everything you've had for so long, you'll resent me. And I'll have nothing anymore."

He was surprised by the steadiness of her voice, how calm and detached she sounded, almost as if she wasn't talking about herself, but about a completely different person. He trailed his fingers up and down her arm in a soothing motion while the other held her head to his chest, placing it over his heart. But the more he thought about it, the more it concerned him.

"You don't really think that, do you Jen?" He asked, watching her curly red hair reflexing the lights of the fire.

She made a motion with her head, it was somewhere between nodding and shaking her head, and it worried him even more.

"We are in here together Jen. I lost you once, I will not lose you twice."

Jenny nodded, but it came hesitantly. "I know." She said, and somewhere in her voice was a confidence that calmed him down.

She tilted her head up and pressed her lips to his in a tender kiss, like a promise.

* * *

_So that was more of a filler chapter than anything else, I just felt like Jenny should talk at least a bit about what is going on [nobody should just bottle up all their issues] and this was just as good a time as ever. Besides I couldn't just let them drive back to DC._

_I hope you've liked this anyway, please review._


	5. Facing the Press

_**JE SUIS CHARLIE**_

A/N: Here's the next chapter, I hope it'll be better than the last... :D

* * *

Chapter five: Facing the Press

_December 24, 2005_

It almost scared him how important mornings became to their relationship. He was dreading them, in a way, always anxious what they had would be crashed when he got up, when he fetched the papers. _When she'd read what they'd written._

Things tended to look different in the raw light of the morning, and when he was still proud of their accomplishments of the day before, how they'd fought together, maybe she'd already decided that they weren't worth it, that the constant fighting against all odds was too much. They had both opened up to each other in the past days, probably more so than they'd ever done before, but the feeling of being afraid hung over him like a constant reminder how easy it was to destroy _them_, how fragile their relationship was.

"Jethro?" She mumbled lazily, her hair a sexy tangled mess that covered half her face.

"Yeah." He gazed down at her, her face almost seemed to glow in the soft light of his bedside lamp, her ivory skin contrasting sharply with the fiery red of her hair.

"Stop the hell thinking. You're making me nervous."

He nodded, grinning, and lay back beside her, pulling Jenny into him. She popped her chin up on his chest, trailing a finger down his sternum, her forehead in wrinkles as if she was deep in thought.

"It's coming today Jethro." She sighed, lying her head down over his heart, listening to its beat.

"What?" His hands settled on the small of her back, holding her in place, close; never too far away from him, not now, not ever again.

"The end of our road trip." She whispered softly. "The call from SecNav, either telling me I still have a job or asking me to hand in my resignation."

Gibbs nodded, lost for words. He didn't know what she wanted to hear, if she wanted to hear anything at all.

She kissed his chest. "Either way, we will have to go back to DC, facing the inevitable." Jenny added.

"Or we stay here a little longer, postpone things, let the hype live down a little. You know, when we first met you used to be the queen of procrastination." He grinned cheekily as she hit his chest but giggled nonetheless.

"You finally got that dictionary Jethro?"

"You missing your thesaurus Jen?" Gibbs asked, kissing her softly as he tangled his fingers into her hair.

"Long live the queen." He murmured against her lips.

* * *

They were still in the middle of a heavy make-out session as her phone started to ring. Reaching out with her hand, her mouth still locked to his, Jenny tried to hold on to the kiss as long as she could before she had to talk to the SecNav. She pulled the phone over to her as-

"Let it ring Jen." He said, covering her small hand with his larger one.

"Jethro." She moaned breathlessly, not as resolute as she wanted to sound as she released her gripp on her cell slightly. He took it out of her hand and lunged out.

"I dare you Jethro, don't even think about tossing it to the other side of the room, or breaking it, or dipping it in paint stripper, or..."

"I got the general idea Jen. Now let it ring, we could make better use of the time."

She sat up, fixing him with her own brand of the Gibbs-glare. "No deal Jethro." She said grabbing her phone as she pulled his shirt over her head.

"Good morning Mr Secretary, Sir" She sat down on the floor next to the bed, just out of his arms' reach.

"Jen-ny" he whined, stressing both syllables.

She winked at him, she seemed relaxed, maybe a bit too relaxed for the occassion, considering her job was on the line. Or maybe she was just harder to read nowadays. She'd learnt from the best after all.

_"I talked to a bunch of people Jennifer, and I went out on a great limb for you, but I convinced most senators that you're worth it. You belong to the best directors NCIS has had so far, and I'm convinced that if you keep doing your job like you've done for the past months, it will be hard for the skeptic to demand your resignation."_

Gibbs looked at her again, watched as the smile spread over her graceful features, knowing she'd gotten her happy end. She winked at him in a sly, wicked way, and he gulped, not at all sure that what was coming next was an appropriate pastime while talking to SecNav on the phone.

She combed her fingers through her hair in a fluent motion, letting it flow down her back in red waves. "Thank you Sir, I really appreciate it."

He was mesmerized by the sight in front of him, knowing that they would be screwed if he or her for that matter made one wrong sound. He'd always liked playing with the fire.

Jenny smirked as her hand went to the collar of his shirt, going further down till she grabbed the first done button, toying a bit with it till she undid it fumblingly. "For when did you arrange the press conference, Sir?"

He watched her undoing button after button, nodding absentmindly to everything SecNav said on the other end of the line as she shrugged the shirt off of her shoulders, leaving her in only her panties. "We'll be there in time, Gibbs is famous for his driving, it shouldn't be a problem. Have a nice day Sir."

She ended the call and came back towards the bed, in his reach again, slowly and deliberately, like a predator approached its prey.

"Sexy" he mumbled as he caught her wrist in his hand, pulling her towards him. She let him pull her on top of him, straddling his chest as he cupped her breasts in his hands, massaging them softly.

"Jethro." She moaned huskily in his ear. "We don't have time for this."

He stared at her, startled, incredulously. "You're not serious, are you Jen? You've teased me since you woke up this morning." He said, gesturing to the lower half of his body.

She laughed, pressing kisses all over his chest before she sucked gently on one of his nipples. "Poor baby." She cooed loftily as she stood up and discarded her panties. Gibbs watched her hungrily now getting up himself.

She cast a cocky glance over her shoulder, once again winking at him slyly. "Maybe I let you share my shower."

* * *

They were on their way back to DC at ten o' clock, and although the press conference was scheduled for 15:00 hours, Jenny wasn't overly concerned about being late. Her worries were more about them ending up killed in a car crash as Gibbs seemed determined to make the 320 miles between the Hamptons and DC in not more than four hours instead of five.

Whenever Jethro started yet another highly risky passing maneuver, it took her all she had in her not to scream as her hands searched feverly for something to grab. By the time they reached DC, she had decided to go to church every Sunday for the next five years to thank God for keeping her alive long enough for her to actually securely claim her office as hers again.

They met up with the SecNav in his office to avoid any public presentation prior to the press conference half an hour later. They entered together, curiously eyed by everyone they passed, sometimes the target of mocking or spiteful comments. He felt Jenny tensing up beside him and wondered if it would be like this all the time now. That people would gossip about them as soon as they turned their backs to them, if they would mock their relationship because once he'd been her boss and now she was his.

His red-headed companion stopped in front of tall blonde's desk, clearing her throat to politely announce their presence.

"Good afternoon Zoe." Jenny said smiling. "How is your son?"

The blonde beamed at them, obviously very pleased with their, or more Jenny's, interest in and knowledge of her private life. "He's good, thank you mam. Go right in, the Secretary is already waiting for you."

Jenny nodded, smiling again, as she turned and made her way over to the large wooden door at the other end of Zoe's outer office. "You comin' Jethro?"

He nodded, giving the assistant one of his very rare, crooked half smiles that were normally reserved for Jenny only before he hurried after said redhead and slammed the door to SecNav's office shut, making the man himself as well as Zoe and Jenny jump.

"Mr Secretary." He greeted as he took the seat in front of his desk next to Jenny. SecNav shot him a nasty look, probably more for the countless times he had caused trouble with the press, this mess included, than for slamming his door.

"You'll get used to it Sir." His lover said at his right, her voice a low conspitorial whisper, a mischivious glint in her eyes. He really hoped her boss couldn't read her half as good as he could. "So what is this meeting about?"

"We have to agree on what you will say out there. No doubt they will ask to what extent this _affair _will interfere with your job. As I stated before, I'm convinced _this _won't change anything at NCIS, and you will not play favourites with Agent Gibbs' team. If they ask you why you still have your job, you'll tell them that most of the senators are convinced that you are the best NCIS has, and that I have your back."

She quirked an eyebrow, looking at him questioningly. "So you summoned me here to tell me I should use common sense when I answer their questions?"

SecNav watch her shifting in her seat a few moments, a grin forming on her lips. "He rubbing off on you Jennifer?" He jerked his head in Jethro's direction who laughed.

"Nah, she's been born like that." The two men shared a look of mutual understanding, probably for the first time ever, before Jenny cleared her throat.

"I'd like to go now. The sooner I begin, the sooner it's over." She said standing up, Gibbs and SecNav following her. She felt Jethro's gaze on her back as she exited the office, wondering if he knew or at least suspected how nervous she was.

* * *

She was standing on a small stage in front of NCIS' headquarters, the icy winter breeze messing with her hair. Her clothes were more unobtrusive than usual, she would be the center of everyone's attention either way. She turned her head a bit in Jethro's direction, he was standing right behind her, wearing the same black pants and jacket as her security detail, blending seamlessly in while he gave her a feeling of security.

Jenny brushed a few strands of red hair out of her forehead as she faced the journalists again. She couldn't even guess how many there were, in front of her was a sea of faces, some with a curious expression, others with a pejorative one.

"Jen?" She heard a whisper behind her, not needing to turn around again to know who it was. She nodded slowly to indicate she'd heard him. "Go and get 'em."

She smiled, gripping the edge of the high desk in front of her. She hadn't prepared a statement, every single one of the reporters in front of her had already made up their mind, they didn't need anymore information, they were the ones who had made sure that the whole nation knew everything about her. Jenny nodded to them, indicating that the questioning could begin.

"Director Shepard?" A tall young man with brunette hair stood up, a mocking smirk on his lips. "Ah, it still is Director Shepard, isn't it?"

Although he stood behind her, even Jethro could see how furious Jenny was. "You think I wouldn't have prepared a statement explaining why I got fired if I'd been?" Jenny's grip on the high desk tightened and he had to stopp himself from stepping forward to offer her his support as he saw how her shoulders tensed up. "I am still the Director of NCIS as the Senate as well as SecNav trust me to carry out my job appropriately." She said, her tone icy.

The man nodded, the smirk still securely in place. "So back to my original question." He drawled the words out, his voice deadly calm. "Is it true that you and Agent Gibbs have been involved for several years."

"No, we haven't." She answered curtly, her hair falling into her face as Jenny shook her head. "Next question please."

An elderly woman stood up, she seemed modest, decent, somehow different than the rest. "But you have been Agent Gibbs Probationary Agent when you started at NCIS? And later on his partner?"

She nodded, quickly confirming the fact as the brunette man laughed mirthfully. "_Partners_, eh?"

The red-head ignored him, instead chosing the next one to ask a question, but he could see how she became more furious by the second.

* * *

Abby stood in front of the large plasma screen in the bull pen, a large CafPow! in her hand as she bounced up and down. She looked around, behind her stood the MCRT and a few agents of other teams, the rest of the staff pretended to be disinterested while they stole secretly glances at the screen. The man on TV announced the beginning of the press conference, and Abby actually did squeal as she discovered Gibbs behind their director.

She got Tony to fetch her a chair, after all this live broadcast had been her idea and so it was just fair that the others recognized that appropriatly. She sighed contently as she put her legs on McGee's desk and took a gulp of her favourite drink.

Abby watched as Jenny turned and smiled at Gibbs just before the first question was asked, a Cheshire cat grin forming on the goth's face.

She looked at the rest of the team again, Tony talking to a few newbies into making bets with him, Ziva playing with her knife, Palmer staring at it as if he was afraid she would toss it at him any second, Ducky cleaning his glasses, and McGee dutifully next to her, watching her rather than the screen.

She herself was watching the screen like a hawk, her grin becoming even wider whenever Jenny turned to Gibbs or whenever she saw Gibbs tensing up when a question hit too close to home for his liking.

"Tony?" She called. "You still have this bet about the day they will get engaged going on?"

"You wanna place one?" The agent yelled back, his notebook in his hand as he hurried over to her.

"Considering I say Valentine's Day." Abby said, her pigtails flying around her head as she spun around in her chair.

"You think somewhere under this bad ass Marine shell is a soft romantic core Abbs?" Tony asked laughing. "There's actually this movie, it's called..."

"I place fifty bucks on Februar 14." The ravenhaired scientist answered spinning around again. "OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH!" She suddenly yelled. "Look at that! Timmy, tell me that I'm not dreaming."

The young man jumped, startled, almost falling out of his. "What's up Abbs?"

"Look at the screen Timmy. Oh my god, look at the screen!"

* * *

The questions were starting to get to her, and she had the distinct feeling that that young brunette reporter knew it. That maybe he could feel how she became more nervous by the second, how she came to fear the next question. She was treading on thin ice, and although they couldn't take her job from her anymore, they could ruin what little was left of her reputation.

The brunette started to talk to a blonde woman next to him, subliminally flirting. She watched him giving her what looked like a business card, scribbling something on it. The blonde beamed, touching her hand to his arm as he looked at her, his eyes eerily cold, designing.. The blonde laughed, and to Jenny it was a harsh sound, brutally loud, and she stopped mid-sentence, looking at them.

She took a second to order her thoughts before she continued, her eyes never straying from the odd couple in front of her. Jenny nodded to a slim man at the back.

"What about the rumours about a child ma'am?" He asked shyly.

"What's your name?" Jenny demanded, her gaze hard.

"Steve Sanders ma'am."

"Have you listened to anything I said during the past few minutes Mr Sanders?" The young man nodded hurriedly. "Then you should know it's impossible that I ended up pregnant somehow." She said coldly. "Last question."

The blonde woman in front of her jumped up, beating everybody around her to it.

"You have never denied that you were at some point involved with Agent Gibbs, nor that you are involved with him now. So are you and NCIS Special Agent Gibbs together?"

The question she had hoped wouldn't come up.

She wanted to answer. She wanted so badly to stand bolt upright, proud of her relationship, and tell them that she loved him, that she wanted to be with him, that she was going to be with him.

Jenny looked around, first at SecNav, then at Gibbs. The former inclined his head in her directions, no doubt pleased with her performance till now, indicating that she should answer, what he thought honestly, no. Gibbs held her gaze, his eyes never straying from hers, not in a pressuring way, just reassuring, telling that he'd watch her six no matter what she'd say.

She clenched her teeth as the blonde cleared her throat, becoming acutely aware that _everyone _was watching her, waiting for an answer. Jenny turned around to Gibbs again, extending her hand for him to take.

He stepped out of the row of agents protecting her, reaching out and taking her hand in his. He came to stand behind her, and the crowd gasped, because he'd been there all along, and now they stood in front of them, practically confirming their relationship-

"Jethro and I-" _Jethro and I. _Not Agent Gibbs. Jethro. "We were together six years ago. We are together now."

He pulled her into him as they turned to go, dropping a kiss to the crown of her head. The flash lights lightened up the twilight behind them as her detail formed a human wall around them, shielding them from the raging crowd shouting questions at them.

"Jennifer!" A voice shouted behind them as they reached the parking garage. "_Jennifer, _what the hell was that?"

* * *

"Did you guys see that?" Abby shouted, jumping up and down, her CafPow! still in her hand. "That was just like the hugest thing ever!"

"Abigail my dear, calm down a bit, would you?" Ducky asked calmly, still cleaning his glasses.

"Ducky-; Duckman, you can't take that so calmly. He... he _kissed _her in public!"

"Abigail, he didn't _kiss_ her-" The elderly ME stated. "You sound almost as hysterical as young Anthony over there, although I do believe it's for different reasons."

"The boss lady and my silver-haired fox. It's just such a pity they never got around to have kids. I'd love to have a little Gibblet to spoil." She mused, quietly humming to herself.

"Tim-my?" She called, drawling the syllables out. "You still have that morph-programm?"

* * *

"Mr Secretary, I..."

"I don't care. I assured them you wouldn't play favourites, that you were highly professional, and you go out there and admit that you have an affair with your lead agent, a fact I spend a whole week on denying!" He shouted and she shrank back a bit into Gibbs form behind her.

"Sir, I am not ashamed of my relationship with Agent Gibbs, and I don't see a reason why you should be. I can seperate my private life from my professional one." Jenny said.

"Mr Secretary, sir" Gibbs began, "she won't change her behaviour at work just because we're officially involved now. I've always gotten special treatment." He said dryly, almost smugly.

"I don't care Gibbs. I don't care if that will ruin her reputation, because it sure as hell won't attack yours, but this has the potential to destroy my credibility!"

"Well, I remember you saying just two hours ago that she's the best director NCIS has ever had, I don't see why this would change anything or reduce her abilities." Gibbs shot back, taking Jenny's arm and pulling her with him.

"You are lucky her position was already confirmed before this press conference!" SecNav shouted, his face turning red.

Gibbs didn't look back, not even remotely sorry. If she could stand up for him and their relationship, then so could he.

"What the hell was that Jethro? You trying to get us both fired?" Jenny asked.

He laughed, not sure if she was really angry at him. Probably more annoyed about what SecNav'd said he decided.

"That was me backing you up. See it as an early Christmas present, won't happen again." He replied wryly, laughing again as she tried to shove him against her car.

* * *

_It just wasn't possible for me to leave out the 'Long live the Queen' quote. It belongs to my favourites, I'd just change the context..._

_So, school started again and it will take me longer to update. On the bright side, I'll have my social studies lessons twice a week again, so I'll have enough time to really think about my plot lines :D._

_Please tell me what you think._


	6. Action Reaction

A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews! And thanks to some certain people who updated a few of my favourite stories - that made my week already on Monday ;D.

* * *

Chapter six: Action Reaction

_Januar 05, 2006_

Jennifer Shepard looked at her watch, shifted in her comfortable seat, looked at the screen of her computer, then at the plasma screen on the wall opposite to her, and at her watch again.

It had been over a week, exactly twelve days, and today would be her first meeting on the hill after the press conference. She'd hoped till then SecNav would have forgiven her the _little stunt she pulled _how he called it, and started acting like the adult he claimed to be again, but obviously all hoping had been in vain as he still preferred not to speak to her.

She sighed. She really didn't need that.

Thankfully SecNav had backed her up before she had dropped the bombshell on him, and her agents were still under the impression he approved of her relationship to Gibbs, even if that wasn't the case. Unlike them, most of the senators that had helped her to keep her job knew the truth, and that in turn left her vulnerable, because everyone she was going to face today would know that she was forced to put in everything she had because everything slightly less than the best would be a failure. A failure that could cost her her job. She felt vulnerable knowing that they knew.

She almost wished something would come up, a matter of national security that wouldn't leave any room to postpone her immediate involvement as the head of a federal agency, just to help her to avoid facing all those politicians today.

Jenny had wanted to let the hype live down a little before she herself attended important meetings again, but SecNav hadn't gone for it. Obviously budget meetings and fund raising on the hill were far more important then her personal feelings, at least in his opinion. Not that she could really blame him.

She shifted in her seat again. She'd gone from 'the best director this agency has had so far' to his personal bitch in about two hours, a fact she wasn't particularly proud of, but had gained her points by Abby Sciuto who had butted heads with SecNav about her way to dress before - not that she needed those points anymore, the poor girl was still high on caffeine because of all the CafPow! she'd drunk when she'd found about the relationship of _el jefe _and the _lady boss. _

Jenny focused back on the screen of her computer, printing out several charts and files as she heard Cynthia announce Stanley's arrival over the intercome. She grabbed her cup of coffee, wanting to take a sip. It was oddly light. She opened the lit and stared incredulously in the now empty cup.

She sighed again. She really didn't need that at all.

* * *

Jenny had hurried past him when he came back from the break room with a fresh cup of coffee so fast Gibbs wasn't even sure if she had seen him at all. She'd been tensed when they woke up, riled up by every little thing he'd done, and he had no clue why. Maybe he'd ask Ziva.

He sighed and entered the bull pen, headslapping DiNozzo for no reason at all other than he felt like it, but at the sheepish expression on his face he felt like he'd done the right thing.

"Ziva?" He asked even more grumpily than usual, he wasn't really comfortable with asking Ziva about something he should know. "What's up with Jenny today?"

She looked at him questioningly, her forehead wrinkling a little. "Up? She seemed to be down today, don't you think?"

Tony looked at her, first in unbelief, then he began to snicker. "How long have you been living in America Zee-vah?" He laughed.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked. "Don't say anything unless you're asked to. Do you know why she's down Ziva?" He asked his Israeli team mate more gently, but she just shrugged apologetically.

"Boss?" McGee looked up from his screen shyly. "Maybe it is because today it's her first meeting on the hill after this whole affair?"

Gibbs looked at the sandy-haired agent, making him shiver a bit. He hadn't thought about that at all. No wonder she was so nervous. "Not that you weren't aware of that Boss, I wouldn't even think that, I just..." He trailed up self-consciously. Gibbs was still fixing him with his usual hard and icy stare as he stood up. He almost smirked to himself as the young man shrank back visibly.

_Scare the hell out of the probie - check._

He went towards the elevator, his mobile in his hand, not sparing a second glance for his team. He pushed the button for the elevator violently, getting angrier at himself by the minute. He got in and stopped the small metal box as soon as it had started to move. He punched the key for the speed dial of Jenny's nummer.

_"Shepard?" _ Gibbs heard her answering the phone. She sounded nervous, stressed, and just the tiniest little bit insecure.

"Hey Jen, it's me." Jenny exhaled loudly on the other end off the line, curtly giving her detail some orders. "Where are you?"

_"I've just arrived at the Pentagon. What do you want Jethro? I don't have much time to just talk."_

"I've just wanted to wish you luck."

She made a strangled sound, and he hoped he hadn't said anything to make her cry in front of the men she had to deal with all day long.

"You crying Jen?" He asked quietly, gently.

She made the strangled sound again before she answered, a little shakily. _"I haven't let them see me cry since my first meeting as Director. And I won't ever again."_

He laughed a bit, glad she was strong, a fighter. "That's my girl." Gibbs said a hint of pride in his voice.

_"Your girl? Getting a bit possessive, aren't you?" _She teased gently, but knew, when it came down to it indeed she was. _"Listen Jethro, I have to go, but I really appreciate your call. Love you."_

"Love you too. Bye." He smirked smugly as he got out of his 'office'.

He head-slapped DiNozzo again, and funnily enough, he looked guilty again.

"You better hope I won't see you doing that again any time soon!" Gibbs bellowed as he walked by in the direction of the break room. He heard them whisper as he went around the corner, then suddenly he heard DiNozzo exclaiming in an almost whiney voice:

"How the hell does he always know what I'm up to?"

* * *

Jenny had heard the whispering as soon as she'd entered the lobby of the building they had their meeting in, making her wonder how many of the employees and senators' aides here knew what was really going on. There wasn't really a doubt what they were talking about, even if she was still the only woman heading a federal agency, she wasn't that much of a novelty anymore.

She forced herself not to let anything show on her face, neither uncertainty nor fear, instead she thought of Jethro calling her just a few short minutes ago. Jenny nodded to the man holding the door open for her in thanks; she was known for those little gestures that made her popular with the employees. She hoped that would come in handy now.

She took her seat somewhere in the middle of the row of chairs along the table, her gaze on the plasma screen in one of the corners. She was well aware that the others were staring at her, most of them at her breasts. It wasn't even that she was wearing something risky or extraordinairily low-cut.

_Pigs _she thought and snorted, _chauvinistic, misogynistic pigs._

The first orator stood up, Nathan McDorrel, the Director of the FBI. She sighed. McDorrel, the son of Irish immigrants, was famous for his long, boring speeches. Absentmindedly she began doodling around on her notebook, staring right into his eyes without really seeing him till suddenly-

"And most of all, the FBI is, different than other agencies, trustworthy and and known for its credibility."

Jenny recognized a dig when she had to take one in strike. Nevertheless she paled, still looking at him, but this time actually seeing his face, his eyes. The men around her applaused, and even she lifted her hands, slowly, and clapped.

And suddenly she realized what that really was about.

This wasn't about her sleeping with a subordinate; she would bet a hundred bucks on either of them having slept with their secretaries at least once and got recognition from the others for it. That was about them taking pleasure in destroying what was left of her reputation.

She wasn't the bad-ass new NCIS director anymore, she was the NCIS director who got fucked by her lead agent.

She wasn't the woman who had stood up for her relationship, she was the woman who had to listen to them hinting about her lost credibility.

Standing up, Jenny gripped the edge off the table, her knuckles withening as her view went fuzzy at the edges. She didn't care if it was her turn or not.

"NCIS should get the funding I've calculated because we have the highest rate of solved crimes. We have DC's most efficient forensic scientist working for us, but she needs new equipement to do her work. We need money to make sure the next generation of our agents is as well trained and educated as the current one. And most of all, NCIS is, as well as all the other agencies also, trustworthy and known for its credibility." She finished, her voice steady as she ended her statement with almost the same words as the director of the FBI.

Silence ruled the room for a few moments, then sparse applause. Most of them looked at her with the respect they'd used to show her, before the scandal. She allowed herself a small, proud smile, looking at them trumphantly as-.

Someone whistled behind her, a _rude, degaratory catcall whistle_, and the respect was gone. Jenny looked at him, he was young, brunette, maybe as old as she herself, not an agency head, and surely not a senator, perhaps one of their aides; and he'd just humilated her, so easily...

Her breathing sounded labored in her ears, and she hoped they wouldn't hear it as her view went fuzzy again.

"I think we could come to some kind of an _agreement _concerning NCIS's budget." The same man said, looking at her suggestively and she felt as if she was some kind of a whore. Suddenly she recognized him. The man from the press conference. The man who got the blonde to ask her about her relationship to Jethro. The man who'd almost ruined everything.

Jenny swallowed heavily, biting her tongue as not to say anything inappropriate. "Excuse me, Mr, what's your name again? I can't remember having seen you around here before."

"Oh, I'm sorry _Miss _Shepard. My name is Paul Winters. I believe we've met before."

"The last time I saw you you were at a press conference acting like the reporter I believed you to be." She replied, her voice icy.

"Been promoted since." He smirked smugly, arrogantly.

"Then let the others talk who've been in the business longer than you." She said, turning to the others again, shutting him up effectively.

The red-head sat down again, fixing each of them with a stare, but she didn't saw respect anymore. Grins had taken its place.

* * *

She'd been numb for the rest of the meeting, only listening superficially. She'd been the center of the general attention, but hadn't acknowledged it. The brunette's eyes had never strayed from her, making her nervously playing with her pencil.

They'd come to an _agreement _how one of the senators had put it, and it had almost made her nauseous to the point Jenny had to stop herself from rushing out of the room.

Policy requested she'd stayed at least another hour after the meeting, discussing politics, cases, and the lastest turf war while sipping expensive Champagne. She smiled to everyone she saw although she didn't feel like it, made small talk, remained eye contact. The price for her accomplishment seemed impossibly high.

"Miss Shepard." The brunette man came towards her, giving her a fresh glass. "I liked your speech, you've really gotten them riled up there." Winters said, brushing her hip with his hand in a way that seemed too accidentially to give her the opportunity to call him out on it.

She took a step back, but he didn't care, simply going on talking. "You fancy something stronger Jennifer? May I call you Jennifer?"

The red-head stared at him, for a moment she didn't know what to do, what to say.

"I'd rather we stay with the formalities Mr Winters." She said a bit stiffly. He shrugged as he placed a firm hand on the small of her back, leading her to the bar.

"I don't think you understand Mr Winters." She uttered lowly, not wanting to draw attention to them as she brushed his arm away. "I don't want to have a drink."

He just shook his head and kept stepping forward, forcing her to back away till she was trapped in-between his body and the wall. "I don't think _you _understand Jennifer. I just want to know when it's _my turn_. When you are through with _him_." He drawled the word out, suggestivly, as he placed his hands on her hips again. He bent down, his mouth right next to her ear. "Just think about it Jennifer. Just you and me and..." He trailed out lowly.

Her mind went blank. This wasn't some underlying accusation. This was him treating her like some whore he'd picked up at a streetcorner. Jenny gulped, and suddenly red fury raged through her body.

"I suggest you stop this right now." She forced through gritted teeth, her voice becoming louder with each word she spoke. "This is sexual harrasement, and if you don't want me to press charges against you, you'll leave me alone."

Jenny pushed him away from her and went to the doors. Calmly, in control of herself, her head held high. She didn't look at anyone, didn't make eye contact. Tears prickled in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall; at least till she was in the sanctuary of her car.

* * *

"Jethro?"

He looked up from the screen of his computer, startled.

_"Jethro?"_

This was Jenny. A desperate, distressed Jenny. She'd been crying, but did a good job of covering it, and he was fairly certain someone who didn't know her as well as he did wouldn't pick up on it. Her eyes were a little darker than usual, and just the tiniest bit puffy.

He almost rushed around his desk, gathering her in his arms as she broke before his eyes. Her knees gave away under her, and she collapsed against him, sobs wrecking her petite frame. He slid down to the floor, pulling her on his lap, just holding her tight while he drew soothing patterns on her back.

"Jen." He murmured, just as DiNozzo cleared his throat. Gibbs shot him a menancing glare, shutting him up as he took Ziva and McGee with him as he strolled over to the elevator.

"Jen? What did they do to you?"

She drew in a shaky breath, uttering something against his neck before she placed a few feather light kisses there.

"I've gotten the money Jethro. I've gotten all the fucking money we need and more." She broke up, looking up at him with big, sad eyes. He stopped the praise that was about to leave his mouth. She didn't want to be praised for this, this had hurt her, hurt her badly. Instead her pressed tender kisses to the crown of her head, her forehead, her temples. He let his lips linger, took his time to console her, not caring who watched them and what they thought.

"He almost demanded me to sleep with him."

His gripp on her tightened, he didn't really realised it, but suddenly she winced, whimpered, and he didn't know if it was because of him, or because of what they had done to her.

"He called it an _agreement_, and the others just adopted that, they didn't do anything." She paused momentarily. "And then he touched me and wanted to know _when it was his turn,_ and they stood just by and watched, he almost called me a slut, treated me like a whore, and they kept talking and drinking Champagne."

"What's his name Jen? What is this bastard's name?" He asked, maybe a bit too forcefully, as she shrank back, trembling again.

"Winters." She mumbled. "He's this reporter from the press conference who sat next to the blonde."

He nodded, remembering the man who had been constantly flirting with every female around him. _A relative of DiNozzo's _he had thought mockingly, but now he dismissed it. Tony very well might be a womanizer, but he had manners.

"You'll denounce him?" He muttered gruffly, still holding her to him.

"How?" She asked back. "He didn't do anything. He didn't call me names, and I didn't outright tell him to stop at first. I'm sure he has a good lawyer, so there isn't really anything I could do." She finished bitterly.

Jethro looked at her, appaled. Normally she was a fighter, she wouldn't let anybody get away with humilating her, she would fight tooth and nail to make him pay. "But we can't do nothing Jen!"

The redhead turned her head, it felt like slow motion for him. Her long lashes were wet from tears, he could see their traces on her cheek. "_We_?" She shook her head. "This is my battle to fight Jethro."

He shook his head too, more forcefully than she had done, and he took her hands in his, looking straight into her eyes. "I may not be the one he touched, and I may not be the one who had to sit through this meeting alone, but you don't have to again either. Maybe we cannot denounce him, but I can come with you next time. And I can break his neck if he tries something like that again."

"It's not that simple Jethro."

"Yeah? But only because we make it complicated." He stood up, pulling her up with him. "The Jennifer Shepard I know wouldn't just take something like that in strike. You still have this friend with the _Post_? Call her, maybe she'll find some dirt on him."

She nodded, and he saw the hope in her eyes, hope and grim determination. Tenderly he brushed a few strands of her out of her face, letting her lean into his touch as she pressed a small kiss to the palm of his hand. She held onto him for a few more moments before she pulled away, gazing into his cobalt blue eyes lovingly.

"Jethro?"

"Hm?" He muttered.

She framed his face with her hands, brushing her thumbs over his cheeks. "Thank you."

"What I said in that cottage Jen, I meant it. For always and forever."

* * *

_I hope you liked the ending, I was in need for some fluff. Thanks for reading, please leave a review!_


	7. Epilogue: Christmas Again

A/N: Thank you all so much for your interest in this story, for your continued support, to all who have put this story on alert or favorited it. It means an awful lot to me as this is the story I enjoyed writing the most so far.

Special thanks to my former religion teacher -may she never read this- for her hatred for chauvinists and her exaggerated commitment to make feminists out of us, it helped a lot to write a character like Winters ;).

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NEITHER THE SONG CHRISTMAS TIME BY AIMEE MANN NOR JE NE REGRETTE RIEN BY ÉDITH PIAF!**

* * *

Chapter seven/ Epilogue: Christmas Again

_December 23, 2006_

Standing in front of her bedroom mirror, Jenny turned her head to look at her vanity table where she'd laid out her mother's earrings and the unobtrusive yet stunningly beautiful collier Jethro'd bought her for Christmas a long time ago. Turning to her bed again, she looked at the man in question, contently sprawled out all over her blankets as he observed her every movement with lazy eyes. He grinned as she once again pulled the zipper of a dress down and slipped out of it, she didn't know if it was because he had still hope they would be too late for the ball and he would succeed avoiding it or because he got a great view of her in just her underwear and stockings.

"Take the blue one." Came the court advice from behind her and she quirked an eyebrow at him before she answered because really - the great and almighty Leroy Jethro Gibbs had just given her an advice concerning evening gowns? "Matches your hair, my tie, your heels, and my eyes." He elaborated.

"Oh so this isn't about its neckline? This is about you claiming your _possession _if other guys become aware of it?" She purred mockingly.

He shrugged, not really in the mood for such a discussion. "You've got a better idea?"

Jenny turned to her wardrobe again. It was big, provided much of space which she took good use of, but it didn't contain anything that would top his suggestion. She huffed, annoyed. It really didn't please her she had to take _his_ advice when it came to something as _her(-ish) _as dresses and heels.

"_Fine_. But then I need another bra."

He shrugged again, giving it an air of nonchalance, but she felt his eyes on her back as she brushed the straps of her bra down her arms. She changed, then let him close the zipper of the blue evening gown he liked so much. Half an hour later, having applied her make-up and done her hair, she took his arm and let him lead her to the black town car waiting for them in front of her Georgetown Brownstone.

* * *

Jenny had her hands neatly folded in her lap, willing them to stop shaking to conceal her nervousness. In a way it was their first Christmas Ball together since 1998 as she didn't really count last year's drunken make-out session against the wall next to the elevators. It was only the second big function they would attend together, till August they hadn't really acted like a couple in public out of fear of SecNav's reaction and what it would do to Jenny and her job as director; and he had been out of town for a banquet at the White House in September, but they had spent his birthday at the Marine Corps Birthday Ball together in November.

He smiled at her and reached his hand out for her to take, stopping her nervous movements. She let out a stressed sigh, just looking at him for a few moments as the car came to a halt in front of NCIS headquarters. Jethro gave her hand a light squeeze as Stanley opened the door for them. He helped her out of the car and put his arm protectively around her waist, letting her lean into him. They waited impatiently but with smiles plastered on their faces till the journalists had gotten their photos.

He didn't like them one bit and it was all down to Jenny that he refrained from threatening or shooting them whenever they were in close proximity to him. Gibbs pulled her towards the elevator after a few more seconds, already fed up. He knew why he hadn't ever wanted to become director. Just his luck that the woman he loved had had the great idea to accomplish that aim then.

The doors opened and he growled again as he saw that there were already a few other agents inside - he'd had the hope that maybe they could have stopped it for a minute and two, maybe he could have even gotten her to kiss him, but that wouldn't come true anytime soon now.

Jenny laughed out loudly, tossing her head back a little and making her curly red hair tumble down her back. He glared, but she just glared right back, shutting him up before he had even the chance to say anything.

He sighed again. The other agents stared.

The red-head pulled his head down to her mouth, essectially bending his head over her cleavage as she placed a small kiss next to the shell of his ear.

"I don't like that we have to go here either, there are many much more _pleasurable _things I'd rather do right now."

He grinned, recognizing a bribe when he saw one but nodded nevertheless. He really loved this woman, what was probably while his left hand was playing with a blue velvet box in the pocket of his dress pants.

* * *

Like last year Gibbs had gone straight to Ducky at the bar while Jenny had made her way through the crowd, greeting the people she had to, making small talk with those she wanted to. At the moment she was talking to a tall brunette woman who stood at one of the tables at the other side of the squad room.

He looked at Ducky, silently asking him who she was. "I believe she is a good friend of Jennifer's, also a journalist if I am not mistaken, but they've known each other since kindergarten. Her name is Ann, I think she's with the _Washington Post_."

Gibbs nodded. He hadn't ever actually met the friend who'd digged out the dirt on Winters that had eventually costed him his position in June, but he'd wanted to thank her ever since. According to Jenny she had put five months of hard work into her research since the red-head had contacted her right after her fund raising meeting in January when he'd essentially called her a whore and she hadn't been able to do something about it. Time went by till finally Ann had found a girl he'd gone to High School with who he'd sexually harassed. She'd been willing to tell her story and a month after that article had been published Winters had been forced to end his political career.

"I think I know who she is then."

He smiled softly. He'd never once, not even for a second, regretted his decision to start his relationship with Jenny anew. He was content every morning when he woke up to her face and missed her whenever he was alone because she had to attend a meeting somewhere around the world.

"You know what Jethro? I think this year she is actually enjoying herself." Ducky said, remembering their conversation of the last year.

The elderly special agent smirked, then shrugged. He placed his empty tumbler on the bar.

"Maybe I'll save her anyways."

* * *

He had her pressed up against the door of her office, pushing his tongue in her mouth and making her moan at the pleasure she felt because of it. Jenny didn't know how they had changed locations so fast - it couldn't possibly have been more than fifteen minutes since Gibbs had come to their table and shaken hands with Ann, thanking her personally again.

So how had they ended up fleeing the crowded bull pen and came to practically being about to have sex against the door of her office? His lips trailed along her collarbone, alternating between biting and licking, and she decided she didn't care.

Jethro pulled away a bit, letting her breathe for what felt like the first time in the last five minutes as suddenly his phone started to ring. She groaned, her hand hitting the metal behind her.

"What it is Abby?" He asked, and she had to laugh, wondering if their forensic scientist knew him well enough to notice the slightly breathy and husky quality in his voice. He nodded curtly, then he closed his phone and shoved it into his pocket, grabbing her arm gently.

"Seems like we have to postpone that a little while longer. Abby's got something for us."

She combed her fingers through her hair, quirking an eyebrow at him as if to say _why the hell do you even care when we could have sex right now_ because really - that was exactly what she thought.

* * *

"Pay up guys" Tony DiNozzo whispered happily as he saw his fearless leader coming down the stairs with their esteemed director.

Ziva shook her head. "I won't pay anything Tony. How can you even be sure they were going at it in her office?"

Tony just grinned, observing his friends for a moment. Abby bouncing up and down, Ducky chuckling, and McGee blushing furiously, his ears almost as red as the director's hair.

"Oh dearest assassine mine" he drawled, paling a little as Ziva's delicate hands began fishing the ice cubes out of her tumbler. "Or, eh, just look, her hair is messy, her skin flushed, her eyes sparkling, and Gibbs for once is actually smiling and not smirking dangerously." He finished rather hurriedly, sighing relieved as the Israeli let the ice cubes fell back into her glass.

Ducky looked at him, twirling his scotch in his tumbler. "Ah, young Anthony but what you don't see it that this isn't the picture of a young couple having had some kind of booty call, but that of two people in love. You know, when I was still a young lad, back in Scotland in the good old days, there was..."

"Shh, Ducky." Abby whispered suddenly. "Watch them, they just stopped dancing!"

* * *

Jethro had led them to the dance floor under the scrutinizing eyes of his team, holding her securely to him as they began swaying to the music. At first she wasn't aware of the lyrics, she focused on the melody. It seemed oddly familiar, maybe she knew it from somewhere-

Paris.

Suddenly the image of them dancing at night in front of the Louvre came to her mind, and she smiled, maybe that was what Abby had gotten them. Their own brand of romance. He bend down to her, lowly singing the lyrics into her ear.

_"Non, rien de rien_  
_Non je ne regrette rien._

_Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait_  
_Ni le mal tout ça m'est bien égal_

_Non, rien de rien_  
_Non, je ne regrette rien._

_Car ma vie, car mes joies_  
_Aujourd'hui, ça commence avec toi."_

He looked at her, a long time, and the last notes seemed to carry on forever as suddenly he was down on one knee in front of her.

"Since I met you in Paris Jen, you've had my heart. You didn't break it when you left in Paris, you just took it with you. When I saw you again it was like it was my chance at getting it back, but Ihowever decided you would have it, and I didn't really want it back anyways. I won't stop loving Shannon and Kelly, but if you decide to give me the chance, I'll be happy to show you I can love you just as much."

He pulled a dark blue velvet box out of the pocket of his dress pants, popping it open and presenting a simple diamond ring to her.

"Jennifer Elizabeth Shepard, will you marry me?"

She could hear Abby squealing lowly in the background while she was staring at him, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Jen?"

"Yes." Was all she managed. "Yes, of course yes."

He laughed and picked her up, spinning her around inmidst of the staring agents, with tears still spilling down her cheeks. He bent down and kissed her, really kissed her, and broke away panting as he placed the ring on her finger. "God I love you Jen."

She laughed too, like she'd done in the elevator, hugging him tightly. Then she realized Abby was crying and shouting and jumping up and down behind her, and she turned around, letting the younger woman engulf her in a hug.

"Show it to me Director, please let me see it. He didn't let anyone see, didn't even take me with him to size the ring."

She shrugged, still smiling madly. "Ah, he'd bought me jewelry before, he didn't really need anybody to size it for him. And it's Jenny tonight."

The goth just squealed again before she turned around around, gesturing to Ziva exictedly. "Oh my gosh, Ziva you have to see this, it's stunning. You're a very lucky woman Director - Jenny."

Jenny nodded, smiling widely at Jethro who'd come up behind her, having shaken the team's hands.

"Gibbs." Abby hugged him too. "I had no idea you had it in you my silver-haired fox."

He just nodded, alomst possessively putting an arm around Jenny's waist.

"I did pretty good, didn't I?" He asked, grinning smugly. The redhead swatted his arm lightly, turning to Abby and Ziva again.

"Jennifer?"

She turned around, paling a little as she saw her boss's serious expression. "Sir?"

"I take it you're planning on pulling through with this?" SecNav asked lowly.

"Well I didn't say yes just for the fun of it." Jenny gave back rather cynically, leaning back against Gibbs' chest.

"You realize you can't really go on working as director then?"

She nodded. "I'll quit when it comes down to it." She said, her voice steady.

"Jen-" The redhead shook her head, taking his hand. "Jethro, this-, us, is what I want. This is what is more important than my job."

SecNav nodded, he'd long since forgiven her for her _stunt _at the press conference the last year.

"It's a good thing then that there are already plans to make a senator out of you."

* * *

They retreated to the bar with the team, sharing a shot of Bourbon out of the same tumbler. They stayed there when the three younger agents and Abby took off towards the dance floor, quietly conversing with Ducky, till he too, left them alone under the pretence of having to talk to someone.

Hand in hand Jenny and Gibbs made their way over to the elevators, kissing under the mistletoe again as they waited for it.

"You after a repeat performance of the last year Jethro?" She asked mockingly, resting her head against his chest.

"Only if you let me shot those goddamn journalists first." Jenny laughed, the sound revibrating against his body. He dropped a kiss to the crown of her head, pushing her into the elevator.

"Where to mylady?" Gibbs asked mockingly as they rode down.

She shrugged. "Seeing as their will be journalists in front of your and my house tomorrow because all of them will want a first glimpse at this scandalous marriage-" she chuckled wryly at that- "I'd say we take our usual refuge."

"I don't really want to drive up to Stillwater Jen. I wanted to spend the night with you in an actual bed, not in my car."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Who's talking about Stillwater?"

* * *

He opened Jenny's door for her and took her arm, walking up the stairs to the hotel. He tossed his keys to one of the men holding the door open for them. "Just park it somewhere else", he ordered giving the man a twenty-dollar bill. His redheaded companion smiled up at him as they made their way over to the reception area, her green eyes sparkling as much as the diamond on her finger.

"Excuse me, we'd like to book a room for the night?" Jenny said, nodding to the receptionist.

"In the name of McCallen or Shepard?"

"What do you think Jethro?" She asked, turning to her financé.

"Let's be nostalgic." The receptionist looked at them questioningly.

"McCallen it is then." Jenny answered contently. She took the key from the young woman, looking at the number. N° 10-27. "Thank you." She said sincerely, then she pulled Jethro towards the elevator.

* * *

_December 24, 2006_

He woke up the next morning completely sated, in a state of lazy satisfaction. His face was buried in Jenny's red curls, their legs tangled together. Picking her hand up he kissed her finger with his ring on it, then trailed kisses up her arm to her shoulder and neck.

She moaned contently, her hands gripping the sheets as he moved on to her breasts. He bit down lightly, making her scream in pleasure. Locking her legs around his waist she flipped them over and kissed him deeply. She was about to lower herself on him as a knock on the door made them stop. She groaned frustratedly, hitting his chest with her fist.

"Oh Jen, it isn't my fault!" He complained. She quirked an eyebrow as if to say that's for me to decide but got up and pulled a robe on anyways. She opened the door and took a tablet and a newspaper from a rather nervous looking young waiter, impatiently waiting for his explaination as to why he'd deprived her of her morning sex.

"There was a rather insistent black-haired young woman ma'am." He stammered edgily. Jenny nodded loftily, fixing him with a glare. "It won't happen again ma'am...?" The young man trailed off hesitantly. This time she smiled as she waved him off and closed the door behind her.

The redhead put the tablet on the table and tossed the paper at Jethro, examining the breakfast Abby had gotten them. Pouring them both a cup of coffee she turned to the silver-haired agent.

"So what do they write today?"

"They are sure we are getting married." He deadpanned, making her laugh as she looked at her ring.

"So far so true. Anything else?"

"They think you're pregnant." He chuckled.

"Happy me then." She answered jokingly. Jethro stared at her intensely.

"You are pregnant Jen?" She shook her head, but he found himself wishing she was. "You wanna have children?"

She shrugged. "I've never thougt about it really. Though I wouldn't complain." She smiled.

He stood up, ditching her of her robe. "We can do something about that." Jenny quirked an eyebrow at him, her new signature move it seemed. "See it as this year's Christmas present."

Jenny laughed again. "Merry Christmas then Jethro." She whispered, kissing him.

"Merry Christmas Jen."

_Its Christmas again, December is here  
What did you wish for what did you fear  
Look at your behaviour looking for a saviour_  
_Underneath the mistletoe_  
_You should know that it is less a crime_  
_To be all alone at Christmas time _

**-THE END-**

* * *

_A/N: I'm into recycling: I took sentences from previous chapters and used them here - somehow they fit._

_I hope you liked this chapter, I just couldn't write a story without even hinting at a Gibblet. That's somehow foreshadowing for my next story, it'll be about one again._

_Please leave a review and tell me what you think!_


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